Cop15: Global transport infrastructure to impact habitats of 2,500 birds and animals

Experts from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) warned that some 883 million tonnes of carbon will be released from trees and vegetation cleared for the projects. File picture: Daniel Beltra/AFP/Getty

Planned transport infrastructure across the world will cross into 60,000kms of protected areas and impact the habitats of nearly 2,500 birds and animals, UN experts have calculated.

The stark picture was unveiled at the Cop15 biodiversity summit in Canada as thousands of scientists and delegates descend on Montreal for what has been described as the most important event for nature in a decade.