On 26 October 2020, a kick-off and consultation meeting for the case study on linking Belt & Road Initiative and global biodiversity conservation was held online successfully.
Supported by the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE-FECO), the project aims to elaborate the opportunities and challenges of global biodiversity conservation under current situation and further demonstrate the significance of this opportunity in the implementation level through case analysis.
The objective of this meeting is to share the work plan and progress and to call for contribution from the partners. Participants of the meeting include representatives from the MEE-FECO, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Conservation International (CI), etc.
As the representative from MEE-FECO, Mr. Tian Fang delivered a speech for the project initiation, expressing his affirmation and high expectation for the progress of the project.
At the meeting, Ms. Guoqin Wang, Programme Manager of UNEP-IEMP, introduced the work plan and progress of the project, including case selection principles,case analysis template, and a list of preliminary selected case study. The experts provided valuable opinions and suggestions on the selection of cases, and recommended multiple global cases such as blue carbon sink, responsible forestry and global forest protection network, and natural-based solutions.
The cases discussed at this meeting involve various aspects closely related to biodiversity conservation, such as protected areas, ecological restoration, eco-compensation, green supply chain, reduction of pesticide use, benefit-sharing of genetic resources, gender equality, climate change, poverty reduction, etc.
For UNEP-IEMP, this project helps to review, analysis and promote synergy of biodiversity conservation and development, and provide recommendations for the post-2020 biodiversity conservation actions. The report will be published during the 2020 UN Biodiversity Conference COP15.
