COP15: China gives up host role with call for urgent meeting on biodiversity, UN says
- The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) announced on Tuesday the UN Biodiversity Conference would be held in Canada
- In Montreal in December, about 200 member states of the CBD are expected to finalise a new accord to halt biodiversity loss by 2030
China on Tuesday officially gave up its role as host of the UN Biodiversity Conference, which had been set to take place in the city of Kunming but now will be moved to Montreal, Canada.
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) announced on Tuesday that the UN Biodiversity Conference, known as COP15, would be held in Canada in December.
02:40
China pledges US$232m to world biodiversity conservation at COP15 conference in Kunming
“Acknowledging the urgency to address the biodiversity crisis, adopt the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and launch its implementation, the COP presidency and bureau have emphasised that the second part of the meetings must be held in 2022,” CBD executive secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema said in a statement.
“Due to the continued uncertainties related to the ongoing global pandemic, China, as COP president, with the support of the bureau, has decided to relocate the meetings from Kunming to a venue outside of China,” Mrema said, adding that the CBD had decided the second part of the COP15 meeting would take place on December 5-17 in Montreal, which is home to the CBD.
The announcement was made in the Kenyan capital Nairobi during a preparatory session for the COP15 meeting.