Kunming, Beijing meetings set new directions for world

China's ambassador to the United Nations said on Friday that conferences held in China this month on biodiversity and green-themed transport provide new starting points for efforts toward innovation-driven development.

The first part of the UN Biodiversity Conference, or COP 15, wrapped up in Kunming on Oct 15, followed a day later by the conclusion of the Second UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference in Beijing.

"Climate change and biodiversity loss have sounded the alarm for humankind and forced us to think deeply about the relationship between man and nature," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said at a news briefing on Friday.

"All parties attached great importance to the two conferences and actively participated in the discussions, which led to fruitful results of the events."

This participation demonstrated the determination of the international community to combat the pandemic and address global challenges, Zhang said.

Leading role

China, in preparing for the two events, worked closely with the UN, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and all other member states, and "actively played the leading role as the host country", the envoy said.

"We have made huge efforts to overcome the impacts of the pandemic," said Zhang, adding that President Xi Jinping attended the leaders' summit of COP 15 and the opening ceremony of the Sustainable Transport Conference, and delivered important remarks.

At the leaders' summit for the Kunming conference, Xi expounded the vision of building a community of all life on Earth. He proposed the building of a homeland of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, of coordinated advancement of economy and environment, and of the common development of all countries. "This has set the grand goal for global biodiversity conservation," Zhang said.

At the opening ceremony of the Global Sustainable Transport Conference, Xi stressed that transport is the artery of the economy and represents a bond between civilizations. He called on all parties to follow the prevailing trend of world development, advance global transport cooperation, and write a new chapter featuring connectivity of infrastructure, unfettered flows of trade and investment, and interactions between civilizations, Zhang said.

Thanks to concerted efforts from all parties, the two conferences have yielded fruitful outcomes, Zhang said.

The first part of COP 15 was marked for its successes in holding the leaders' summit, the ministerial meeting and the Ecological Civilization Forum. It also adopted the Kunming Declaration, sending a powerful message on the goal of realizing the 2050 vision of "living in harmony with nature".

At the transport conference, the participants engaged in policy discussions, covering people's livelihoods, green development, connectivity, the response to COVID-19 and economic recovery. "There is no doubt the initiatives proposed will inject new strength for the implementation of transport-related SDGs," said Zhang, referring to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

At the two conferences, Xi announced that China will contribute 1.5 billion yuan ($233 million) to establish a Kunming Biodiversity Fund and set up a Global Innovation and Knowledge Center for Sustainable Transport.

"President Xi's important remarks at the Kunming and Beijing conferences are in line with the Global Development Initiative. We welcome all parties to join the Initiative and together inject stronger political will to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda," he said.

"We hope next year the second part of COP 15 will conclude the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to guide global environmental governance.

"We also hope countries will take the Sustainable Transport Conference as an opportunity to deepen global connectivity partnership."