The Most Important Global Meeting You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Is Now

 Countries are gathering in an effort to stop a biodiversity collapse that scientists say could equal climate change as an existential crisis. 

 As 20,000 government leaders, journalists, activists and celebrities from around the world prepare to descend on Glasgow for a crucial climate summit starting late this month, another high-level international environmental meeting got started this week. The problem it seeks to tackle: A rapid collapse of species and systems that collectively sustain life on earth. 

The stakes at the two meetings are equally high, many leading scientists say, but the biodiversity crisis has received far less attention.