Spotlight on COP16 | "China Pavilion” Event 1: "Mainstreaming Biodiversity Supports Building a Beautiful China" Side Event Successfully Held

 

On the morning of October 22nd, local time in Colombia, the parallel side event on "Mainstreaming Biodiversity Supports Building a Beautiful China" at COP16, hosted by the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning(CAEP), was successfully held at the "China Pavilion" in the Blue Zone venue of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity COP16 in Cali. The meeting was chaired by General Director Zhang Yujun of the Nature and Ecology Conservation Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. Minister Huang Runqiu of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Deputy Executive Secretary David Cooper of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and Co-Chair Basile van Havre of the Framework Negotiation Group attended the side event and delivered speeches. Wang Jinnan, Honorary President of CAEP, President of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, gave the keynote report. Representatives from universities, research institutes, enterprises, and non-governmental organizations at home and abroad, including the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture of Peking University, Santiago University of Colombia, China Green Development Investment Group Co., Ltd., the Urban Environment Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Beijing Entrepreneurs Environmental Foundation (SEE Foundation), were invited to give thematic reports.

 

Minister Huang Runqiu delivered a speech, pointing out that mainstreaming biodiversity has become an international consensus, and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity have also become one of the most fundamental and effective measures. He introduced the progress and effectiveness of China's efforts to mainstream biodiversity, as well as its supporting role in advancing the construction of a beautiful China. He proposed suggestions and requirements for further advancing the mainstreaming of biodiversity from four aspects: doing a good job in the top-level design of mainstreaming, widely gathering the wisdom of all parties, strengthening the protection of mainstreaming work, and enhancing international cooperation. These efforts aim to further solidify the ecological foundation of a beautiful China.

 

Huang Runqiu，Minister of MEE

David Cooper, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat, highly affirmed China's efforts in promoting the mainstreaming of biodiversity. He noted that as the presidency, China successfully facilitated the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and actively implemented its goals and requirements for advancing the mainstreaming of biodiversity. China has become the first developing country to update and revise its national biodiversity conservation strategy and action plan, established the Kunming Biodiversity Fund to support biodiversity efforts in developing countries, and injected strong momentum into global biodiversity governance. David Cooper expressed his gratitude for Minister Huang Runqiu's contributions during his tenure as the President of COP15 and offered suggestions for China's continued efforts in mainstreaming biodiversity.

 

 

David Cooper, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat

 

Basile van Havre, Co-Chair of United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Framework Negotiation Group, highly commended China's leadership and execution in facilitating the "Kunming Framework". He looks forward to leveraging the opportunity of COP16 to enhance exchanges and cooperation among all parties, share beneficial experiences, and promote consensus on key issues of concern at this COP16, in order to advance substantial progress in the implementation of the framework.

 

Basile van Havre, Co-Chair of United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Framework Negotiation Group

 

 

Academician Wang Jinnan delivered a keynote report titled "Valuing Biodiversity for Protection, Building a Beautiful China." He first introduced the background of the "Kunming Framework," which requires the incorporation of the multiple values of biodiversity into planning and accounting policy systems. Based on current domestic and international theoretical methods for biodiversity value accounting, he proposed methods for assessing the value of biodiversity and the quality of biodiversity. Taking the biodiversity value accounting in Yunnan Province as a case study, he focused on the assessment and transformation of biodiversity value, and put forward six policy recommendations for supporting the construction of a beautiful China through biodiversity value.

 

Academician Wang Jinnan, Honorary President of CAEP

 

In the part of Keynote Session, the event invites five expert representatives from domestic and international universities, research institutions, enterprises, and social organizations to discuss their respective fields' efforts to mainstream biodiversity around the sub-theme, in order to jointly build a beautiful China where humans and nature coexist harmoniously.

 

Li Dihua, Deputy Dean of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Peking University, delivered a keynote speech titled "Connecting with Them: Protecting Biodiversity Around Us," sharing practical cases of public participation in biodiversity conservation. The speech seeks nature-based solutions in urban landscape planning and design to address conflicts between humans and biodiversity protection. It calls for awareness of the biodiversity around us, enhancing consciousness for biodiversity conservation, and taking action.

 

Li Dihua, Deputy Dean of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Peking University

 

The University of Santiago de Cali, Colombia, and the China-Colombia Biodiversity Digital Twin Cooperation Project, Professor Claudia Zuniga gave a keynote report titled "Digital Twin Technology Promotes Biodiversity and Green Development: China-Colombia Partnership". The report discussed the China-Colombia cooperation project that uses scientific research to aid in biodiversity conservation from a technological innovation perspective. It provided examples of how to develop new quality productive forces and enhance the governance capacity and level of biodiversity through technology-driven approaches.

 

Claudia Zuniga,Professor of the University of Santiago de Cali

 

Sun Liucun, General Manager of the Ecological Safety Department of China Green Development Investment Group Co., Ltd., delivered a keynote report titled "China Green Development's Practice in Biodiversity Conservation". The report revolved around the company's main business formats of green energy, low-carbon cities, and happiness industries, and introduced the practical effects of China Green Development's biodiversity conservation work from the company's biodiversity strategy, scientific research support, and typical 

cases.

 

Sun Liucun, General Manager of the Ecological Safety Department of China Green Development Investment Group Co., Ltd

 

 Xu Yaoyang, Researcher from the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, gave a report titled "Urban Biodiversity Inclusiveness," discussing the challenges and strategies for urban biodiversity conservation from three aspects: the synergistic impacts of urbanization on biodiversity and climate change, the significant contributions of biodiversity to sustainable urban development, and inclusive support for the protection of urban biodiversity.

 

Xu Yaoyang, Researcher from the Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

As a representative of non-governmental organizations, Yang Biao, Secretary-General of the Beijing Entrepreneurs Environmental Foundation (SEE Foundation), delivered a keynote report titled "Chinese Civil Environmental Organizations' Participation in Biodiversity Conservation under the 'Kunming Framework'". He presented the pathways and achievements of non-governmental organizations in biodiversity conservation from three aspects: Chinese non-governmental organizations, the efforts made by non-governmental organizations to achieve the goals of the 'Kunming Framework', and practical cases of the SEE Foundation in biodiversity conservation.

 

Yang Biao, Secretary-General of the Beijing Entrepreneurs Environmental Foundation (SEE Foundation)

 

In line with the vision of building a beautiful China where humans and nature coexist harmoniously, the COP16 "Mainstreaming Biodiversity Supports Building a Beautiful China" side event comprehensively showcased the practical explorations of various entities, including government, research institutions, enterprises, and social organizations, in protecting biodiversity, jointly promoting the mainstreaming of biodiversity, and supporting the construction of a beautiful China through a society-wide approach. The side event looks forward to an increasing number of forces joining the biodiversity protection process, to collectively curb the threat of biodiversity loss, and truly realize the vision of "living in peace with nature" advocated by this COP16 conference.

 

Lu Jun, President of CAEP, along with representatives from R&D and International Cooperation office, Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, and Institute of Environmental Investment & Industry, attended the meeting on site. 

 

In addition, more than 60 people from relevant departments and directly affiliated units of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, international organizations, universities and research institutions, enterprises, non-governmental organizations, and media participated in this side event. This "China Pavilion" series of activities was hosted by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and co-organized by CAEP in conjunction with other units.