An initiative to promote diverse governance of biodiversity and a fund to support benefit-sharing were launched on Thursday at the China Pavilion of COP17, during a thematic day on technology and finance for biodiversity conservation.
Officially known as the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, COP17 runs from Monday to Oct 30.
The biodiversity multi-stakeholder governance partnership action initiative was jointly launched by the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES), China Green Carbon Foundation, Mangrove Conservation Foundation and Peking University Center for Nature and Society.
The initiative aims to build a platform for cooperation among government agencies, research institutions, businesses, social organizations and local communities. It responds to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's call for whole-of-government and whole-of-society participation in biodiversity governance, according to a CRAES media release.
Adopted at COP15 in late 2022 under China's presidency, the Kunming-Montreal framework sets four long-term goals for 2050 and 23 action-oriented global targets for 2030.
The platform will focus on ecosystem protection, sustainable community development, biodiversity-friendly industries and the conservation of areas that receive limited government funding, including other effective area-based conservation measures, the release said. It will also support the documentation and transmission of local ecological cultures and promote benefit-sharing related to the use of genetic resources.
The academy said the initiative seeks to establish a sustainable cycle linking conservation, sustainable use, benefit-sharing and the reinvestment of benefits into conservation. An expert committee will be established to develop annual action plans and organize policy discussions, evaluations and public outreach activities.
At the event, a biodiversity benefit-sharing fund was jointly launched by Ant Forest Foundation and Shan Shui Foundation, according to the release.
The fund will coordinate resources from different sectors and support demonstration projects that translate biodiversity benefits into practical gains for local communities, helping advance the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal framework.
Editor：Zhou Jinmiao
