Why is the conference attended by Xi Jinping attracting global attention?

Source: Overseas Network

Some time ago, a group of wild Asian elephants went north from the border rainforest to Kunming, Yunnan, and finally returned safely under the guidance of humans. This group of elephants has become a hot topic in the world for a time, and the Chinese government's elephant protection action has also been praised by the international community.

Yesterday afternoon, President Xi Jinping attended the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) Leaders' Summit in Kunming by video. In his keynote address, Xi Jinping mentioned the story. He pointed out that the journey north and return of elephants in Yunnan has given us a glimpse of the achievements of China's wildlife protection.

On the afternoon of October 12, President Xi Jinping attended the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Leaders' Summit held in Kunming by video and delivered a keynote speech. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xueren

One

In 1968, the American biologist Raymond first proposed the concept of "biodiversity", which has been widely disseminated and applied since then. Twenty-five years later, the Convention on Biological Diversity, an international convention for the protection of the Earth's living resources, entered into force. China became one of the first parties.

On the eve of this year's World Environment Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the planet is rapidly approaching an irreversible tipping point. We face a triple environmental emergency, namely biodiversity loss, climate change and increased pollution. The next decade is the last chance to save the planet.

This statement is by no means alarmist. At present, the global rate of species extinction is accelerating, and mankind is in a critical period of strengthening biodiversity conservation. As the highest deliberative and decision-making mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Conference of the Parties sets future targets every 10 years, and COP15 is at a critical juncture in setting new 10-year conservation targets.

An important topic of the Kunming Conference is to promote the formulation of the "Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework" to set goals and clear paths for future global biodiversity conservation. In his keynote speech, Xi Jinping stressed that the establishment of new environmental protection goals should take into account both ambition and pragmatic balance, so as to make the global environmental governance system more fair and reasonable.

Faced with a "once-in-a-decade opportunity", the international community has high hopes for COP15. This conference is not only one of China's important home diplomatic activities, but also an important meeting of the United Nations in the field of ecology and environment, and its weight is self-evident.

Two

In Xi Jinping's keynote speech, there is a theme word that has always been consistent - the community of life on earth.

Indeed, in the face of the global challenge of biodiversity loss, all mankind is a community of common destiny, and no one or any country can stand alone. On this basis, Xi Jinping proposed to build a global home where "man and nature coexist in harmony", "economy and environment advance together", and "all countries in the world develop together".

How can this be achieved? Xi Jinping issued a 4-point initiative -

First, take the construction of ecological civilization as the guide and coordinate the relationship between man and nature.

Second, driven by green transformation, to help global sustainable development.

Third, with the well-being of the people as the center, promote social fairness and justice.

Fourth, on the basis of international law, we should uphold a fair and reasonable international governance system.

These four-point initiative is a Chinese plan to contribute to the joint construction of a community of life on earth from the perspective of being responsible for human civilization and to future generations.

To protect biodiversity, China has the concept to take more action. The recently released white paper "Biodiversity Conservation in China" mentions that 90% of China's terrestrial ecosystem types and 71% of the national key protected wild animal and plant species are effectively protected. According to reports, China was mentioned 14 times in the Global Biodiversity Outlook released by the United Nations last year, and a number of Chinese experiences were included in the "National Experience and Progress Examples" column.

Yesterday, Xi Jinping announced a series of blockbuster measures. For example, China officially established the first batch of national parks; accelerated the planning and construction of large-scale wind power photovoltaic base projects in desert, Gobi and desert areas; and launched the construction of national botanical garden systems in Beijing, Guangzhou and so on.

Three

For an international conference, there is nothing more important than building consensus.

Looking at the world, the contradiction between biodiversity conservation and development and construction activities still exists. Despite the urgency of conserving biodiversity, many countries still lack motivation and ambition in setting targets and taking action.

Last year, at the UNITED Nations Biodiversity Summit, Xi Jinping mentioned "protection in development, development in protection". Yesterday, Xi Jinping reiterated the dialectic that "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains": "A good ecological environment is both natural wealth and economic wealth, which is related to the potential and staying power of economic and social development." ”

In reality, China has proved with its own actions that protection and development are not contradictory. In Yunnan, where COP15 is held, Jingdong County in the province retains 1/3 of the country's species. In order to protect the unique ecological resources, the local laws and regulations have been formulated very strictly. Although the annual industrial output value has decreased by about 2 billion yuan, the value of ecosystem services and biodiversity in the county exceeds 50 billion yuan per year. There are many such examples in China.

However, developed and developing countries are at different stages of development and have differences in their historical responsibilities and practical capacities on environmental issues. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has cast a shadow over global development, and developing countries need help and support even more in the face of the dual tasks of restoring the economy and protecting the environment. In this regard, Xi Jinping announced that China will 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 Convention on Biological Diversity is a valuable outcome of multilateral cooperation and requires the broad support and participation of all countries. As Xi Jinping said, the international community should strengthen cooperation, think and work hard to build a community of life on earth.

Text/Zhong Qi

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Source: Study Group