The Kunming Declaration provides political guidance for the global biodiversity framework

Lin Xiaoxiao is an assistant researcher at the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

On October 15, 2021, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) of the 2020 United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) was successfully concluded. Although the covid-19 pandemic has been postponed for one year and the format of the meeting has been changed to a combination of online and offline, in this case, more than 5,000 representatives from more than 140 parties from 196 parties to the Convention and more than 30 international institutions attended the first phase of the conference and achieved fruitful results. During the first phase of the five-day Conference, participants discussed important issues such as the review of the implementation of the Convention and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, progress towards the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, and held three panel discussions at the high-level meeting on the theme "Ecological Civilization: Building a Community of Life on Earth", which was fruitful.

Opened for signature at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and entered into force in December 1993, the Convention has become one of the most widely ratified international environmental conventions. The Convention aims to achieve a balance of interests between developed and developing countries, with the objectives of conserving biodiversity, achieving sustainable use of components of biological diversity and equitable and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. On this basis, the Convention builds binding obligations on Parties, including: ways of conserving and sustainably using biological diversity; in situ conservation and ex situ conservation of components of biodiversity; encouraging the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity resources; research and training; public concern and education; impact assessment of biodiversity targets; access to regulated genes; access to technology and transfer; financial security, etc. The Convention proposes a comprehensive global programme for biodiversity conservation that provides an institutional basis for the conservation of genetic resources located entirely within the jurisdiction of a country, filling gaps in the old regime by establishing a broader legal framework for the conservation of biodiversity. China signed the Convention in June 1992 and ratified it in November, becoming one of the earliest States parties.

The Assembly of States Parties (COP), established by article 23 of the Convention, is the governing body of the Convention and its primary responsibility is to review its implementation. The Assembly of States Parties also has the responsibility to review advisory opinions, adopt protocols and amendments to the Convention, consider additional annexes and establish the necessary subsidiary bodies. The 5th Conference of the Parties, held in Montreal in 2000, and the 10th Conference of the Parties, held in Nagoya in 2010, adopted the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, aimed at protecting biodiversity from the threat of improved organisms resulting from modern biotechnology, and the Nagoya Protocol, which aimed to promote the equitable and equitable sharing of benefits from heritage resources, respectively. At the 13th Conference of the Parties held in Cancún, Mexico, in 2016, China successfully won the right to host the 15th Assembly of States Parties.

The 15th Assembly of States Parties will be held in two phases, with the second phase continuing from April to May 2022. At present, the first phase of the Conference has been successfully closed and achieved fruitful results.

Mr. Huang Runqiu, President of the Conference and Minister of Ecology and Environment of China, summarized the three major achievements of the first phase of the conference: First, the cohesion of broad political will. Minister Huang said that the first phase of the meeting "injected strong confidence and political impetus into the international community to work together to meet the challenges of the global ecological environment and promote global biodiversity governance." The second is that the adoption of the Kunming Declaration (hereinafter referred to as the Declaration) provides political guidance for consultations on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The third is the establishment of the Kunming Biodiversity Fund. In his keynote speech at the Leaders' Summit on October 12, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that China would take the lead in investing 1.5 billion yuan to establish the Kunming Biodiversity Fund to support the cause of biodiversity conservation in developing countries. The establishment of the Fund is a pragmatic and vigorous measure taken by China as the host country, which further demonstrates China's ambition and action of working with the international community to jointly promote global biodiversity governance to a new level.

As the "landmark" outcome of the first phase of the Conference, the adoption of the Declaration was of particular concern. As a political declaration that gathers consensus among the participants, the Declaration, on the basis of recalling the joint efforts made by the international community for the cause of biodiversity conservation, reaffirms and emphasizes the fundamental significance of biodiversity and the ecosystem functions and services it provides to people and the earth, as well as the current severe situation facing biodiversity conservation.

The Declaration brings participants together to make a commitment to work together through the formulation and implementation of an effective post-2020 global biodiversity framework, support for the improvement of mechanisms for the implementation of relevant protocols, the integration of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use into government decision-making, the improvement of their respective national biodiversity strategies and action plans, the strengthening and establishment of effective regional conservation measures and spatial planning tools, the reform of incentive structures, the promotion of the participation of all sectors of society in biodiversity governance, and the strengthening of awareness-raising, Measures such as strengthening cooperation and coordinated action with other relevant international and multilateral processes to put biodiversity on the path to restoration.

The Declaration provides political guidance for consultations on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, reflects the determination and willingness of countries to take action to reverse the current trend of biodiversity loss and to ensure that biodiversity is on the path to recovery by 2030 at the latest, and will inject new impetus into global environmental governance. (Editor-in-charge: Wang Xin)