People do not live up to Qingshan, and Qingshan will certainly not live up to people

Commentator of Guangming Daily

On October 12, President Xi Jinping attended the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Leaders' Summit by video and delivered a keynote speech stressing that we should accelerate the formation of a green development mode, promote win-win economic development and environmental protection, and build a home for the economy and the environment to advance together.

"All things have their own sum and life, and each has its own nourishment." Biodiversity is the foundation of human survival and development. At present, the protection of biodiversity has become an urgent task facing mankind. According to the United Nations report, 1.78 million square kilometers of global forest area were lost between 1990 and 2020; about 1 million species of plant and animals are threatened with extinction, many of which will likely become extinct within the next few decades. Biodiversity makes the earth full of life, and the status of biodiversity is related to the survival and development of human beings. To protect biodiversity is to protect the earth and to protect the environment for sustainable human development.

The Convention on Biological Diversity, which entered into force in 1993, has become one of the most influential international environmental conventions in the United Nations environment and development process. China is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, and Yunnan, a province belonging to Kunming, where the conference is held, is the province with the richest biodiversity in China. Over the years, China has been a participant, sharer and leader in the construction of global ecological civilization, and has always been committed to implementing biodiversity conservation and promoting global biodiversity governance to a new level. The theme of this conference is "Ecological Civilization: Building a Community of Life on Earth", which is the first global conference held by the United Nations on the theme of ecological civilization. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, China adheres to ecological priority and green development, continuously strengthens ecosystem protection and restoration, comprehensively promotes biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation, deeply participates in global biodiversity governance, and promotes biodiversity conservation to achieve remarkable results.

"Green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains" "Man and nature should coexist in harmony" That's what China said and that's what it is! Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the construction of ecological civilization has been included in the overall layout of socialism with Chinese characteristics and enshrined in the Party Constitution. The "strictest in history" new environmental protection law was introduced, and "pollution prevention" became one of the three major battles... These are all concrete measures for the policy practice of ecological civilization. The Saihanba wasteland has become forested, and the endangered Chinese leopard has returned to its densely populated habitat in North China... These are real biodiversity conservation outcomes. Benefiting from unprecedented ecological protection and law enforcement efforts, 90% of China's terrestrial ecosystem types and 85% of key wild animal and plant populations have been effectively and properly protected, and some rare and endangered species in the wild are gradually recovering.

The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a shadow over global development, the world's unprecedented changes in a century have entered a period of accelerated evolution, and the promotion of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development faces greater challenges. Faced with the dual tasks of restoring the economy and protecting the environment, President Xi Jinping put forward a four-point proposal: taking the construction of ecological civilization as the guide and coordinating the relationship between man and nature; taking the green transformation as the driving force to help global sustainable development; taking the people's well-being as the center to promote social fairness and justice; and maintaining a fair and reasonable international governance system based on international law. This is China's plan to protect biodiversity and achieve sustainable human development.

As long as all parties join hands, uphold the concept of ecological civilization, and stand at the height of responsibility for future generations, we will certainly be able to jointly build a community of life on the earth and jointly build a clean and beautiful world!

Guangming Daily (01/13/2021)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily