Protecting Nature

Measures taken by China on biodiversity conservation have achieved remarkable results

- Ge Lijun

The year 2020 will be remembered for a succession of disasters: forest fires, locust invasions, and the deadliest of all, the COVID-19 pandemic, which have disrupted economic and social activities worldwide. And the natural decline in biodiversity continues to get worse around the world. In its latest Living Planet Report 2020 released on September 10, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) states that global vertebrate species populations declined by an average of 68 percent between 1970 and 2016.

People around the globe are now forced to rethink the relationship between mankind and nature. How to restore natural life and conserve biodiversity in order to ensure human wellbeing and long-term development?

In his speech delivered via video on September 30 at the UN Summit on Biodiversity at the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly, Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned that accelerating species extinction, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation constitute a major risk to human survival and development. According to him, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the simple fact that mankind and nature are a community of common destiny.

Following the concept of ecological civilization, China has made great efforts in recent years to strengthen environmental protection and promote sustainable production and consumption.

The country has fulfilled its obligations under climate change, biodiversity and other treaties related to the environment, achieving excellent results in the area of biodiversity protection, Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), told Xinhua News Agency.

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