WWF: China can help protect biodiversity as COP 15 host

In this file photo on Nov 28, 2006, World Wildlife Fund balloon flies over the Amazonas river and the surrounding rain forest in Manaus, north of Brazil. (EVARISTO SA / AFP)

GENEVA – World Wildlife Fund International has called on China to demonstrate global leadership to reverse biodiversity loss and secure a nature-positive world by 2030, as time is running out to save the planet's ecosystem.

"We are the last generation that can take meaningful actions to secure the future of the planet and humanity," Li Lin, director of global policy and advocacy at WWF International, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

China will host the first part of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, Yunnan province, in October to push forward the formulation of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

As the host country of the upcoming COP 15, China needs to "show leadership" to realize "a carbon neutral and healthy future for all life on Earth," Li said.

China's focus on the idea of ecological civilization in national policymaking is consistent with the idea of living in harmony with nature, noted Li Lin, director of global policy and advocacy at World Wildlife Fund  International

She noted that China's focus on the idea of ecological civilization in national policymaking is consistent with the idea of living in harmony with nature.

"We're facing emergencies on an unprecedented scale. We need a stepping up of global governance, and we need to see all countries play their role to safeguard the global commons we all rely on," Li urged.

"This is a critical time and China has a critical role to play for global governance and multilateralism," she added.

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Ahead of the COP 15, Li stressed that the world needs multilateralism more than ever before to address the unprecedented nature and climate crisis.

"Managing and safeguarding the global commons will require multilateralism," she said, adding that "Freshwater, wildlife, they thrive, they flow, and they don't respect country boundaries."

WWF International, based in Switzerland, is an independent conservation organization with a global network active in nearly 100 countries and regions.

"The COP 15 in October and then later in April next year is a critical decision-making moment that can determine our fate, not only in the next decade, but in the next centuries and millennia," said Li, who will participate in the meetings together with a WWF delegation.

"Working collectively with global leaders, China can help deliver a future that is nature positive, carbon neutral, equitable, and healthy," Li added.