Kunming.Photo:VCG

 It remains uncertain if Kunming,  Southwest China’s Yunnan Province will be able to host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official at the Chinese environmental authority said Thursday, noting preparation work is ongoing as planned.

China and the Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity are still communicating and negotiating on when and how COP15 will be held amid the pandemic, Cui Shuhong, director at the Department of Nature and Ecology Conservation under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said at a monthly press conference on Thursday.

COP15 was planned to be held in Kunming in September 2020, but was postponed to May 2021 due to the impact of the pandemic.

During COP15 the Chinese government will hold high-level meetings, and, as usual, issue political declaration documents and measures as the host country.

The international society believes that the Aichi Biodiversity Targets have not been implemented as expected and global biodiversity is facing a severe situation, directly threatening human’s interests including food, health and security. The international society expects COP15 could make an ambitious “post-2020 global biodiversity framework” to turn the declining trend on global biodiversity, he said.

Cui said China’s ideas and advocacies about the framework should cater to the concerns to developing countries and enforcing support to the developing countries.