The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) held a side event themed "China's Role in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development" on the margins of the High-level Segment of the second part of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), on December 16.

Mr. Huang Runqiu, CCICED Executive Vice-Chairperson, Minister of Ecology and Environment (MEE) of China and President of COP15; Mr. Steven Guilbeault, CCICED Executive Vice Chairperson and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada; Ms. Inger Andersen, Vice Chairperson of the CCICED, Under-Secretary-General of United Nations (UN) and Executive Director, UN Environment Program (UNEP); and Ms. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, CCICED Member and Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, attended the meeting and delivered speeches. Mr. Zhao Yingmin, CCICED Secretary General and Vice Minister, MEE, China, and Mr. Stephen de Boer, Assistant Deputy Minister, International Affairs Branch (IAB), Environment and Climate Change Canada, delivered closing remarks to the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Zhang Yujun, Deputy Secretary General of the CCICED, Director General of the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center MEE.

The meeting focused on the vision of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (the Framework), which should be both ambitious and pragmatic, resource mobilization for biodiversity conservation, and the role of multilateral cooperation platforms in promoting global biodiversity governance, which contributes to the advancement of global biodiversity governance and the promotion of the environment and development agenda in a coordinated manner.

In his speech, Minister Huang Runqiu said that China stands for the harmonious coexistence of human beings and nature in planning development and is committed to promoting the global biodiversity governance process. He highly recognized the unique and important role played by the CCICED in the field of environment and development in China, and voiced his expectations:

We expect all partners and friends to continue to provide their valuable suggestions, as references for the Chinese government on its decision-making.

We expect all partners and friends to take a closer look at China's great achievements in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, and to share China's wisdom, contributions and solutions with the international community.

We expect that all partners and friends will continue to uphold the CCICED's spirit of cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, and work together to promote the conclusion and implementation of the Framework, so as to boost the confidence and determination of global biodiversity conservation.

Participants expressed their appreciation of China's leadership in facilitating the conference process as the COP15 presidency. They also believe that in order to achieve the ambitious goals set, there must be strong guarantees in terms of finance, technology and capacity building; the relationship between conservation and sustainability must be balanced; and there must be the broad participation of various stakeholders, including governments, enterprises and the public. It is expected that the second part of COP15 will be successful and be a landmark achievement with a comprehensive, balanced, strong and implementable Framework.

The speakers to the meeting include: Mr. Scott Vaughan, CCICED International Chief Advisor and former President and CEO, International Institute for Sustainable Development; Mr. Marco Lambertini, CCICED Member and Director General, WWF International; Dr. Bruno Oberle, CCICED Member and Director General, International Union for Conservation of Nature; Dr. Richard Florizone, CCICED Member and President and CEO, International Institute for Sustainable Development; Ms. Christie Ulman, CCICED Member and President, Sequoia Climate Foundation; Ms. Jennifer Morris, CCICED Member and CEO, The Nature Conservancy; Mr. Aniruddha (Ani) Dasgupta, CCICED Member and President and CEO, World Resources Institute; Dr. Zhang Hongjun, Board Chair of the Energy Foundation China; Partner, Holland Knight LLP, and guest from CCICED partners: Mr. Eric Schwaab, Senior Vice President, People and Nature, Environmental Defense Fund; and Mr. Marcos Neto, Director of Sustainable Finance Hub, the United Nations Development Programme.

The meeting was attended by more than 100 participants, including CCICED partners, representatives from Party delegations, international organizations and NGOs, and experts and scholars.