Promote the construction of a beautiful world in which man and nature coexist in harmony

Source: People's Daily - People's Daily

On 11 October, the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) will open in Kunming, China. The theme of this year's conference is "Ecological Civilization: Building a Community of Life on Earth", which is the first time that the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Environment Convention has adopted "Ecological Civilization" as the theme of the Conference. Experts and scholars interviewed by this reporter said that China's ecological civilization construction has made remarkable achievements and made great contributions to improving the global ecological environment and protecting biodiversity, and it is expected that the conference will set more ambitious goals for global biodiversity governance and promote the construction of a beautiful world in which man and nature coexist in harmony.

Elizabeth Murraema, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, believes that China has always been a strong supporter and contributor to the global biodiversity agenda. China was one of the first countries to accede to the Convention on Biological Diversity and had ratified two protocols to the Convention, namely, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing. China is also one of the largest contributors to the core budget of the Convention and Protocol. China's offer to host COP15, as well as the Kunming Declaration to be issued at the conference, are clear indications of China's leadership and commitment to biodiversity conservation. Murema highly appreciates China's biodiversity conservation and restoration work in the past few decades, and believes that this will set an example for future work, especially the Unidad Ecosystem Decade restoration process, which is worth learning from other countries.

As one of the countries with the richest biodiversity in the world, China has conscientiously implemented the Aichi Targets, clarified its tasks and responsibilities, and achieved positive results in the implementation of the targets, and the overall situation is better than the global average. Among the 20 "Aichi Targets", 3 goals have exceeded expectations, 13 goals have made critical progress, and 4 goals have achieved stage results. China has controlled desertification and desertification for a long time and on a large scale, effectively protected and restored wetlands, and the amount of biological genetic resources collected and preserved ranks among the top in the world. 90% of terrestrial ecosystem types and 85% of key wildlife populations are effectively protected.

"There are many moving stories of China's ecological governance, and the results of governance have been generally affirmed by the international community." Tu Ruihe, representative of the United Nations Environment Programme in China, said that in recent years, China's ecological and environmental protection has made many achievements: outstanding poverty reduction results, laying a good foundation for related work; large-scale pollution control actions have been carried out continuously, and environmental quality has been significantly improved; ecological restoration projects and desertification control projects have ensured the relative stability of the ecosystem and increased forest coverage; the construction of relevant rule of law has been rapidly promoted, becoming the "sword" for the implementation of environmental protection work; and all the people support and actively participate in ecological environmental protection, and promote green life and consumption methods.

Braulio Díaz, former Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, said: "In recent years, China has handed over an excellent answer sheet in balancing economic development and ecological protection, and I believe that China will hold a fruitful conference. ”

"China has the ability to play a leading role and build consensus among all countries"

French biologist Jelena Peltier said that biodiversity is the guarantee of ecological security and sustainable environmental development, and China has done a lot of work in related fields, such as building nature reserves and delineating ecological protection redlines, which have achieved remarkable results and are worth learning from other countries. "COP15 will plan the blueprint for the next phase of global biodiversity governance, and open a new chapter in global biodiversity conservation through stronger and broader cooperation." We are looking forward to the Conference. ”

"China has practiced with practical actions that 'green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains'." Hu Yishan, chief adviser to the Pacific Research Centre in Malaysia, said that Chinese companies are paying more and more attention to environmental protection in infrastructure projects, such as designing special animal passages to adapt to the life and migration of local wild animals and facilitate their crossing of roads and railways.

"During my PhD studies in China, I visited Xi'an, Lanzhou and other cities, witnessed the achievements in the prevention and control of desertification in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River, and felt China's efforts in the field of ecological environmental protection." Nasser Bushiba, chairman of the Moroccan Association for African-Chinese Cooperation and Development, said that Morocco is learning from China's experience and implementing projects to combat desertification, which have achieved good results.

Iscarot Flores, president of the Mexican Entrepreneur and Sister Cities Association on Human Rights and the Environment, said that China's biodiversity conservation policies and measures are becoming more and more perfect, investment in scientific research is increasing, and continuous innovation of conservation methods and increased protection efforts. "In recent years, China has become the country with the largest increase in forest resources in the world in the same period, contributing about 1/4 of the new green area in the world. We look forward to strengthening exchanges with China and carrying out broader cooperation on biodiversity conservation. ”

Lambertini, WWF Global Director General, believes that China's efforts in nature conservation have always reflected the concept of ecological civilization. "This philosophy will guide us where we go and what kind of society we build. As the host country of COP15, China has the ability to play a leading role and consolidate the consensus of all countries. ”

"The conservation of biodiversity urgently requires joint action by the international community. Climate change and environmental degradation threaten human well-being and the very basis for survival and are serious challenges to us. Anika Hudberg, director of the European Sustainable Prosperity Program at the European Policy Centre, said COP15 will promote the development of new targets for global biodiversity conservation, and the host China will play an important leadership role.

"COP15 will create a platform for collaboration between countries and international organizations"

UN Secretary-General António Guterres believes that COP15 will play an important role in establishing a global biodiversity framework and curbing the extinction crisis.

Sebastian Moncopes, head of the IUCN French Committee, said COP15 is an important milestone in time that will give birth to a global strategy that will be binding over the next 10 years. The international community should take measures to reverse the downward trend of biodiversity and make efforts in terms of financial input, policy formulation, knowledge dissemination and experience sharing, so as to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and the realization of sustainable development.

Claudia Vinnodi, head of the Belgian Central European Digital Association, has long been concerned about the role of science and technology in biodiversity conservation and promoting the green transformation of production and lifestyle. He said that the conservation of biodiversity is a global issue that requires the full cooperation of all countries, and COP15 will provide an important platform for the international community to set higher level conservation targets. "At present, the global ecosystem is facing serious challenges, and there are still a large number of animal and plant species that are threatened with extinction. We must take multilateral action to jointly promote green development. ”

"In recent years, China has played an important role in international cooperation on biodiversity conservation, as evidenced by the holding of COP15 in Kunming." Gao Lixing, a British researcher at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that COP15 will make all countries in the world further realize the necessity of ecological protection and sustainable development, promote the "post-2020 global biodiversity framework" that is broadly agreed and pragmatic, and bring opportunities for transformational changes in biodiversity conservation.

"As one of the first countries to accede to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, China adheres to the concept of green development, incorporates the construction of ecological civilization into the national development strategy, and has made remarkable achievements in local policies, making useful explorations for the conservation of global biodiversity and the joint construction of a community of human and natural life." Yvonne Rajvac, director of the "Belt and Road" Regional Research Center of the Serbian Institute of International Political Economy, believes that China has made great efforts to improve the ecological environment and provided Chinese wisdom for global environmental protection and governance, and "COP15 will create a platform for cooperation between countries and international organizations."

(Beijing, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Bangkok, Cairo, Mexico City, Brussels, Rome, October 10, reporters Yan Huan, Shang Kaiyuan, Zhu Yueying, Liu Lingling, Bi Mengying, Liu Hui, Zhou Xuan, Liu Xuxia, Zhang Penghui, Han Shuo)

People's Daily (October 11, 2021, 17th edition)