Luo Zhaohui, vice minister of foreign affairs of China Photo: Courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Some say COVID-19 made the spring of 2020 a "silent spring", triggering a rethink of human relationship with nature.

Throughout history, mankind has exploring their relationship with nature. The Chinese civilization advocates the unity of man and nature, and following the laws of nature. Buddhists prefer famous mountains as locations to practice their faith. And Marxist ecological philosophy highlights the harmony between man and nature. 

Inspired by ancient Chinese wisdom and Marxist thinking on ecology, Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forth a vision for ecological civilization, and has pointed out that human beings and nature are one community of life. Mankind must respect, adapt to and protect nature.

That is why the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity has set its theme as "Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth."

The global battle against COVID-19 tells us that viruses respect no borders and mankind shares a common destiny. In the global village, all countries are in a community with a shared future. Only through solidarity and win-win cooperation can we achieve common development and build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world featuring lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an important endeavor to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and has become the largest international cooperation platform in the world today. President Xi has stressed on multiple occasions that green should be the underlying color of the BRI, which means the initiative should be guided by a vision of ecological civilization, contribute to green development and help preserve the common home of all Belt and Road partner countries. 

Green development is a multi-dimensional concept, and one important aspect is preserving biodiversity while pursuing and boosting development through conservation.

Based on the above-mentioned thinking and guiding principles, comprehensive measures have been taken under the green Belt and Road to advance the conservation of biodiversity and economic and social development of partner countries.  

Ecological conservation mechanisms

Last year, the Chinese government and more than 140 foreign and Chinese partners from 42 countries jointly launched the BRI International Green Development Coalition, under which "biodiversity and ecosystems" is identified as a special subject and a series of case studies and research on guidelines and standards were carried out. The Chinese government has also established a BRI big data platform on ecological conservation, where biodiversity data from more than 100 countries has been pooled. The data resource and solid research under these institutional frameworks have provided strong support for biodiversity conservation in BRI partner countries.

Exchange and cooperation 

The green Belt and Road aims to facilitate greater interaction among governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations in the participating countries, to develop a cooperation network to enhance conservation.

For example, at the government level, China and 11 countries including Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have held the International Snow Leopard Forum on a regular basis, and have actively carried out international cooperation on the research and protection of snow leopards. 

At the NGO level, social organizations such as the Chinese Ecological Civilization Research and Promotion Association have regular exchanges with their Cambodian counterparts, and have donated urgently needed materials such as walkie-talkies, flashlights and raincoats to the Cambodian side, helping to solve the practical difficulties of forest conservation volunteers and promoting local forest conservation.

 The Chinese government launched the China-ASEAN Green Envoys Program in 2011 and upgraded it to the Green Silk Road Envoys Program in 2017. So far, more than 2,000 environment training opportunities have been provided to officials, researchers and technicians from over 120 countries, including over 600 opportunities in the field of biodiversity.

Green measures

In designing and undertaking BRI projects, Chinese enterprises take ecological factors into full consideration to help conserve biodiversity while contributing to local economic development.

For example, while building the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan, Chinese companies planted nearly 300,000 trees and more than 5 million square meters of grass along the highway, playing their part in greening the local environment amid infrastructure construction.

In another example, during the construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya, the Chinese company involved built 14 large wildlife passages, 61 bridges and more than 600 culverts along the railway line to ensure the free movement of animals and allow giraffes to pass without bending their necks.

Adhering to the green vision of environmental protection, the rail line has seen a steady increase of traffic since it opened and has continuously produced social and economic benefits. The project has been warmly welcomed and recognized by the Kenyan government and people.

The green Belt and Road is popular because it promotes win-win results in both environmental protection and economic development, and brings long-term and real gains to the peoples of partner countries. 

Against the backdrop of severe challenges facing the global environment, building the green Belt and Road represents China's contribution to global sustainable development.

The COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity will be held in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province. The conference plans to adopt the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and set new goals, which will be of great significance to global cooperation on biodiversity governance in the next decade and beyond.

Despite the fact that the COP15 has had to be postponed due to COVID-19, the Chinese government remains determined to make the conference a success and promote the protection of global biodiversity.

The Chinese government is ready to strengthen communication and cooperation with all other countries under the framework of the green Belt and Road and COP15, step up efforts to uphold multilateralism and promote international cooperation on biodiversity, and jointly advance the building of a global ecological civilization and a shared future for all life on Earth.

The author is vice minister of foreign affairs of China.