Minister Huang Runqiu, President of the Fifteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) and Minister of Ecology and Environment of China, met with Mr. António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General; Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; Mr. Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the Economic and Social Council; Ms. Leila Benali, President of the sixth United Nations Environment Assembly; Mr. Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, and ministerial representatives from Austria, Pakistan, South Africa, Colombia, India and other countries during his stay on invitation in attending the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) from July 13th to 15th. All stakeholders exchanged views on promoting the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and strengthening cooperation in promoting the Global Development Initiative. In-depth communications were carried out on safeguarding a successful second part of COP15 and adoption of “Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)” to contribute to the global biodiversity conservation.

The first part of COP15 was successfully held in Kunming, China, in October 2021. The meeting adopted the Kunming Declaration, which injected a strong political impetus into global biodiversity governance. The second part of COP15 will discuss the formulation of new goals and tasks for global biodiversity governance. Huang stressed that the period from now to the second part of COP15 is a critical period for continuing consultations and promoting consensus on the GBF. As COP15 President, China will continue to lead and facilitate, and work with all parties to strengthen multi-level and all-round coordination, listen to opinions extensively, drive consensus, strive to reach an ambitious, balanced, and practical GBF, with a view to jointly advancing the global biodiversity governance.

Minister Huang attending the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

with Mr. Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the Economic and Social Council

with Ms. Leila Benali, President of the sixth United Nations Environment Assembly

with Ms. Karoline Edtstadler, Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution at the Austrian Chancellery

with Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of Planning Development & Special Initiatives of Pakistan

with Mr. Mondli Gungubele, Minister in the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa

with Carlos Eduardo Correa, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia

with Mr. Shri Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson of NITI, Aayog