COP15 to push increase in biodiversity funding

The global biodiversity framework adopted at the COP15 United Nations biodiversity conference late last year and its supporting policies are of milestone significance for the world, said COP15 President Huang Runqiu.

Huang, also minister of ecology and environment, made the remarks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday after the opening meeting of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress.

COP15, formally known as the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, was held in two phases. The first part was held in Kunming, Yunnan province, in October 2021, which included the issuance of the "Kunming Declaration". Parties then gathered for negotiations in Montreal, Canada in December.

The minister highlighted a funding mechanism that demands financial flows from developed nations to support biodiversity conservation in developing countries and Digital Sequence Information, or DSI, as two of the key mechanisms adopted in Montreal.

"Parties conquered great difficulties to adopt these me chani sms. But once put into practice, they are expected to help achieve significant results," he said.

DSI, a dominant topic at COP15, has many commercial and noncommercial applications, including pharmaceutical product development, improved crop breeding and the monitoring of invasive species.

Delegates have agreed to establish a multilateral fund within the framework for the equitable sharing of benefits between providers and users of DSI, to be finalized at COP16 in Turkiye in 2024.

The adaptation of the framework and its supporting policies have mapped out a blueprint, and identified targets and pathways for global biodiversity governance, he said.

"This is the first time that China successfully led and promoted negotiations over key UN environmental topics," he stressed.