Home Meetings & Statements Events & Activities China & UN Documents About China 中文
  Home > China & UN > Economic Affairs and Development > Sustainable Development
Accelerate the Implementation of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Build a Shared Future for All Life on Earth ——Remarks at Opening of Ministerial Segment of 2022 HLPF By His Excellency HUANG Runqiu, President, COP 15 of CBD Minister of Ecology and Environment of China

2022-07-13 18:00

Distinguished Secretary General Guterres, President Shahid, President Kelapile, Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Good morning! It is my great pleasure to attend this meeting.

Development is the eternal theme for human society. At present, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed global development gains, and impeded the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, the world is undergoing emerging food and energy security risks. Last September, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the Global Development Initiative at the United Nations General Assembly. This June, President Xi presided over the High-level Dialogue on Global Development in Beijing, and advocated that all countries should put development at the center of the international agenda and implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He also shared China's pragmatic measures to implement the Global Development Initiative, which injected strong momentum for accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Welcome to join the initiative.

As the world's largest developing country and an active practitioner in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, China has issued its position paper, announced its national plan and taken a lead in releasing its national progress report. China has made significant progress in meeting sustainable development goals, including eliminating poverty, protecting marine environment, effectively utilizing energy, tackling climate change, and conserving land ecosystems.

We keep the people-oriented principle and firmly promote poverty elimination. With years of continued endeavor, China has achieved a historic success by eradicating absolute poverty: all of 98.99 million rural residents living under the current poverty line had all been lifted out of poverty, which marks that China has achieved SDG1 “no poverty” of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule.

We uphold the harmony between human and nature, and firmly promote green and low-carbon development. We practice “green is gold” concept, announce to the international community China's "3060" plan to achieve carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, incorporate carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals into the overall layout of economic and social development and ecological civilization, and build the world's largest clean energy system. In the past decade, China has seen an average annual economic growth rate at 6.5% with an average annual energy consumption growth rate at 3%, a decreased cumulative energy consumption intensity by 26.2%, and new afforestation accounting for about 1/4 of the global afforestation. The quality of the ecological environment has been improving continuously, and the population of rare species such as giant pandas, crested ibises and Asian elephants has increased significantly.

We stick to multilateralism and firmly promote global sustainable development. We adhere to the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, and take pragmatic steps in implementing international conventions. We strengthen international cooperation in the fields of climate change, marine pollution governance, and biodiversity conservation, and is prepared to take on international responsibilities commensurate with the level of development. We promote the green BRI, and support the exploitation and application of clean energy in the BRI participating countries. We vigorously pursue South-South cooperation, to help developing countries improve their environmental governance capabilities and improve people's livelihood and well-being.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Biodiversity provides the very basis for the human race to survive and thrive. The first part of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity was successfully held in Kunming, China, in October last year. On the meeting, the Kunming Declaration was adopted, and the establishment of the Kunming Biodiversity Fund and other initiatives were announced, which inject a strong political impetus into global biodiversity governance.

In order to accelerate the reversal of the severe situation of global biodiversity loss and promote the global biodiversity process, taking into account of various factors, after consultation among the Chinese Government, the Secretariat of the CBD, and the Government of Canada, the COP15 Bureau decided that the second part of the meeting will be held in Montreal, Canada, from December 5 to 17, 2022. Although the venue has been changed, China's determination and actions to promote the global biodiversity governance remain the same. China will continue to play the role of the presidency, preside over the substantive and political affairs of the Conference, and work with all parties to reach the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

At present, the Framework consultation is at a critical stage. We call on the international community to seize the opportunity and work together towards the same direction, to reach consensus on key issues as soon as possible, and to adopt an ambitious, pragmatic and balanced Framework at the second part of COP15, setting goals and clear paths for future global biodiversity conservation efforts. During the presidency, China will promote the effective implementation of the Framework and contribute to building a shared future for all life on earth.

Let us forge consensus and strengthen actions to jointly promote global sustainable development and to build a beautiful homeland for all life on earth living in harmony.

Thank you!


Suggest to a friend
  Print