The World Agreement on the Conservation of biodiversity until 2030 was signed following the XV Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity (COP15), which ended in the Canadian city of Montreal, China Daily reports. It was adopted after four years of discussions and two weeks of intensive negotiations.

As a key step in protecting the world's lands and oceans, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aims to "halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity" by 2030. This is the first program of its kind after the Aichi Biodiversity Targets adopted 12 years ago.

"This is a historic moment. We have achieved our goal," said Huang Runqiu, president of COP15 and Minister of Ecology and Environment of China, noting that the adoption was the result of numerous efforts by all parties.

The document was signed by representatives of 196 member countries of the UN Convention on Biodiversity, who pledged to restore at least 30% of degraded areas of terrestrial, inland, coastal and marine ecosystems by 2030, and to reduce the number of chemicals used in land cultivation.

Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Stephen Gilbeau commented that some experts compare the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework with the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015.

It should be noted that the first part of the conference was hosted by China in October 2021 in the city of Kunming. Then Chinese President Xi Jinping invested 1.5 billion yuan in the creation of the Kunming Biodiversity Fund to support the protection of biodiversity in developing countries.

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Photo: China Daily