COP15: Biodiversity summit to be held in two parts in Kunming

The United Nations and the Chinese government have jointly decided that the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) will be held in Kunming, southwest China’s Yunnan province in two stages, said an August 18 post on the website of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

Short pedicularis is seen in west Yunnan's Gaoligong Mountains. (Photo provided to Yunnan Daily)  

Taking place online from October 11 to 15, the first phase of the biodiversity summit will include an opening ceremony, leaders' speeches, high-level meetings and general agendas, as well as release of the Kunming Declaration and other documents.

In a bid to minimize Covid-19 risks and travel challenges for delegates, the second phase of COP15, which features in–person meetings and aims to reach consensus on a post-2020 framework on global biodiversity protection, is scheduled in Kunming in the first half of 2022.

A fungus cluster grows in the Jiaozi Mountain in central Yunnan. (Photo provided to Yunnan Daily)

“China will continue to work with the Parties of the Convention and its secretariat to overcome the adverse impact of the global epidemic on the conference, fulfil the obligations of the host country, and steadily advance the preparations for the conference, making all efforts to host a landmark CBD conference,” said Huang Runqiu, Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment, on August 18.

Huang told a press conference that China's efforts in biodiversity conservation have yielded results, citing the northbound elephant herd in Yunnan, the giant pandas endangered no more, and the frequent show-ups of the Yangtze finless porpoise.

A bird rests in the Jiaozi Mountain in central Yunnan. (Photo provided to Yunnan Daily)

By the end of 2020, around 25 percent of the Chinese land has been delineated as areas for ecological protection. 11,800 nature reserves across China, 474 of which belong to the national ones, have accounted for 18 percent of the country’s land area, meeting the UN's CBD goal of 17 percent in advance.

Reporting by Hu Xiaorong (Yunnan Daily); Trans-editing by Wang Shixue