COP15 to be hosted in two phases

The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, Yunnan province, will be held in two phases from Oct 11 to 15 and the first half of 2022.

The decision was made by the 14th Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and has been ratified by the Chinese government, according to Chinese officials.

Themed "Ecological Civilization-Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth", the key United Nations summit on biodiversity conservation, commonly known as COP15, was originally scheduled to be hosted by China in October.

The event will review the post-2020 biodiversity framework and set new global biodiversity targets for 2030.

Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that China will continue its efforts in making preparations for the conference and work with all parties to overcome the adverse effects of the global pandemic to jointly ensure a successful event and contribute to global biodiversity governance.

According to a notice issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Wednesday, from Oct 11 to 15, overseas personnel will attend the meeting online, and relevant personnel in the territory will attend the meeting on site. The main contents of the first phase include the opening ceremony, leaders' speeches, general agenda, the issuance of the "Kunming Declaration" and other documents.

The second phase will be held in Kunming in the first half of 2022 to facilitate broad and in-depth consultations to promote a broad consensus, and an ambitious and pragmatic post-2020 global biodiversity framework, the notice said.