Interview: Cop15 was a pivotal decision-making moment – a visit to Lin Li, Director of Global Policy and Advocacy at WWF International

GENEVA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The COP15 conference is a key decision-making moment – a visit to Li Lin, Director of Global Policy and Advocacy at the World Wide Fund for Nature (International).

Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Qu Martina Foss

The 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) will be held in two phases in Kunming, China, in October this year and the first half of 2022. This important meeting will develop the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, setting new targets for global biodiversity conservation.

"COP15 in October and the subsequent meeting in the first half of next year are a critical decision-making moment," Li Lin, director of global policy and advocacy at WWF International, called in a recent interview with Xinhua, "the time to save the planet's ecosystem is running out."

Li Lin said that as the host country of COP15, China has an important role to play in "striving to achieve the ambition of making all life on earth have a good nature, carbon neutral and a fair and healthy future." So this is a critical moment, and China has a key role to play in global governance and multilateralism."

In 2020, China proposed to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. At the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Chinese leaders said that China will vigorously support the green and low-carbon development of energy in developing countries and will not build new overseas coal power projects.

"We need to strengthen global governance, and we need to see all countries play their part in safeguarding the global commons on which we all depend," Li Lin said, adding that China's domestic actions are encouraging.

Li Lin stressed that today's world needs multilateralism more than ever to solve the natural and climate crisis. The issue of climate change, as well as biodiversity and wildlife, is not confined to a single country or region. "It is therefore vital to protect our global commons through cooperation, multilateralism, global governance to provide viable systems to sustain our lives."

"China has a key role to play in the world's access to a biodiversity framework that can safeguard the future of people and our planet," Li said. (End)