A conservation agreement was reached by nearly 200 countries, punctuating the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. More commonly known as COP15, the conference was held in Montreal this year.

The bill pledges to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030. 30 by 30 is the currently coined term for the proclamation. Currenlty only about 17 percent of land and only 10 percent of oceans are considered protected.

The United State is not one of the signatory members. The country was part of negotiations for the agreement, but The York Times reported the that despite having a Democratic majority in the Senate, the pledge would not pass. The United State still sent Monica Medina as special envoy for biodiversity, and to continue to discuss President Biden’s commitment to supporting climate change agendas. 

“I hope that we will have a time in the future when the Senate would ratify it,” Medina remarked. “But we’re contributing no matter what.”

The Washington Post reports that close to one million species are presently at risk of going extinct. It also cited experts who have extrapolated what will happen as the warmer climate will eventually displace and eliminate more species of animals.

Other experts, like Brian O’Donnell, the director of the Campaign for Nature, are encouraged. He told the outlet that the outcome charts a very aggressive course.

“(It is) a scale of conservation that we haven’t seen ever attempted before,” he told the paper.