04 July 2022|News
25-26 June 2022, the Chinese Economists Society 2022 Annual Conference was held online. The theme of this conference is "Big Data, AI and Economic Development: Merging Economics with Management". About 500 researchers, students, and others interested individuals attended the conference.
Dr. Yunli Bai, the UNEP-IEMP member, held a parallel session titled "Off-farm employment and family welfare in rural China". Dr. Chengfang Liu, Deputy Dean and Boya Chair Professor at School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences of Peking University and Dr. Xu Tian, Professor of China Agricultural University were invited as discussants. Four papers from various research team were presented at this parallel session.
Dr. Ye Jiang, from South China Agricultural University, reported the paper on "The long-term impact of labor market entry conditions on rural-urban migrant’s income and career development: Evidence from nationally representative long panel dataset". Dr. Jiang analyzed the long-term effects of labor market entry conditions on rural urban migrants’ earnings and their career outcomes since 1978 and explored the heterogeneity on skills. Dr. Weidong Wang, from Beijing Forestry University, presented the paper on "Off-farm self-employment in China’s rural labor market". Dr. Wang elaborated the evolution of off-farm self-employment in rural China and analyzed the entrepreneurship of off-farm self-employment in rural labor. Zhiyuan Ma, Ph.D Candidate of UNEP-IEMP, shared the paper on "Education-occupation matching, employment stability and wage of rural labor in China". Ms. Ma investigated the association between education-occupation matching and the wage of rural labor and identified the role of employment stability in this association. Dr. Shaoping Li, from Huzhou University showed the paper on "Migration and perceived returns to education". Dr. Li analyzed perceived returns to education in rural China and estimated the effect of migration on perceived returns to education.
The experts proposed detailed and valuable suggestions and comments from the perspective of research topic, perspective, approaches and conclusions. The fantastic reports and expert comments attracted nearly 50 researchers and students to participate and discuss online. The members of UNEP-IEMP expanded their research perspectives and improved their academic and communication ability by organizing, hosting and participating in this parallel session.
04 July 2022|News
On 30 June 2022, United Nations Environment Programme-International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP) held the project launch and consultation workshop on "Improving social impacts of China’s development finance in countries of the Global South from a gender perspective with case studies and pilot projects". The project is funded by the Ford Foundation.
The workshop was chaired by Dr. Linxiu Zhang, Director of UNEP-IEMP. Dr. Zhang welcomed all the participants and introduced the purpose of this workshop, the objectives of the project, and UNEP-IEMP’s recent work on gender inclusion and women empowerment. More than 30 experts, researchers, and students from research institutes, universities, non-governmental organizations in Indonesia, Nepal, and China and the programme officers from Ford Foundation attended the workshop online.
Dr. Yunli Bai, coordinator of the project team, presented the project tasks, research progress, and next steps. Based on an overview of Chinese investments and the policies to protect women’s rights in Indonesia and Nepal, the project aims to use case studies to clarify the impact of Chinese outbound investment on the welfare of local women from multiple perspectives and to develop a "toolkit" and checklist that will assist Chinese investors in improving the social impact of their investments from a gender inclusive perspective.
More than 10 experts from UN Women Beijing Office, International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) in Nepal, Women Research Institute (WRI) in Indonesia, Oxfam Hongkong, Peking University, China Agricultural University, Farmers’ Seed Network (FSN) in China, and Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR, CAS) joined a panel discussion. The experts highlighted the significances of this project, shared information and experiences from their programmes, and made valuable suggestions on case selection, field surveys and indicators, and the development of "toolkit" and checklist. They also expressed willingness to collaborate with each other on the project implementation.
The workshop gained valuable feedbacks for further improving the project implementation plan and consolidated as well as expanded the international cooperation network among partners of UNEP-IEMP. It also served as part of the platform of UNEP-IEMP for knowledge sharing in South-South countries by exchanging experts’ experiences on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
27 June 2022|News
Under the "Improving Ecosystem Management for Sustainable Livelihoods in Cambodia and China within the Framework of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Project", financed by the UNEP-China Trust Fund Phase 2, the National Awareness Raising on Integrated Ecosystem Management was organized on 23 June 2022 by the Ministry of Environment, Government of Cambodia. The event took place in Phnom Penh with virtual participation and presentation by UNEP-IEMP. It was participated by approximately 100 participants from various government agencies (both at central and provincial levels), NGOs, and academic institutions. Its objectives were mainly to share good practices for ecosystem management for sustainable livelihoods within other protected areas or projects in Cambodia and in China as well as to preliminary identify private sector or stakeholders interested in participation and upscaling of the project interventions.
In this regard, Ms. Guoqin Wang and Ms. Tatirose Vijitpan from UNEP-IEMP shared the good practices of landscape management and ecosystem restoration for sustainable livelihoods in China. The presentation covered experiences from the Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN, Chinese Academy of Sciences) on ecosystem monitoring and its cases on environmentally friendly rubber plantation, and restoration and agroforestry for red soil and hilly region; as well as multiple benefits of bamboo plantation. Those cases have been selected for their relevance to Cambodia, particularly the project’s site at Phnom Kulen National Park in Siem Reap province.
The session was well-received with many relevant questions from the participants to learn more about the direct experience from China. These include the challenges to cooperate with local farmers in agroforestry, the incentives provided to the farmers and other technical questions. It was concluded that the session was very helpful for the implementation of project site interventions.
The venue for the workshop event in Cambodia
This was an important opportunity to promote the knowledge exchange and learning on integrated ecosystem management and South-South cooperation. Moreover, as requested by the Cambodia team, UNEP-IEMP will also engage Chinese expert to provide capacity building on bamboo for ecosystem restoration and livelihoods improvement for local participants at the Phnom Kulen National Park.
24 June 2022|News
June 21-23, 2022, UNEP-IEMP, as the TEEBAgriFood China implementation leading team, joined the TEEBAgriFood Asia, Africa and Europe Regional Symposium hosted by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Symposium aims to share lessons learnt applying the TEEBAgriFood Framework towards food systems transformations across the regions. Representatives from government, academia, international organizations and the private sector across China, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia actively participated.
On Day 2 of the event, Dr. LI Jun-sheng, Chair of the TEEBAgriFood China Project Steering Committee, gave his remarks at the high-level panel, introducing China’s initiatives and achievements in biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration, and highlighting that a balanced development of sustainable agricultural development, ecological protection and agricultural modernization is important for the country in stepping into the new era.
A screen capture showing speakers and panelists
In the thematic session of Applying TEEBAgriFood in Multi-functional Landscapes, Dr. Li Li, the research union member of UENP-IEMP, on behalf of the TEEBAgriFood China implementation team gave a presentation and introduced the progress of the Tengchong pilot study with reference to the country’s agricultural context and highlighted the linkages with the national priorities.
Dr. Li Li making a presentation about the TEEBAgriFood China project
The 3-day symposium attracted more than 200 participations online, and instigated discussions on the mainstreaming of nature’s value into decision-making in agriculture and food systems.
08 June 2022|News
UN Environment Programme-International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP) Director, Dr. Linxiu Zhang was invited as a specialist to present the closing remark at Launching Ceremony of COMSTECH Forum on Environment and Ecosystem Restoration (CFEER) and COMSTECH International Seminar on "Land Degradation" on 6th June 2022. The ceremony was intended to commemorate World Environment Day, which was organized by COMSTECH in Partnership with UNEP-IEMP and Center for Water Research Technologies (CERTE), Tunisia.
In the closing remarks, Dr. Linxiu Zhang expressed her congratulations on the successful launching ceremony. She pointed out that healthy ecosystems were critical and such a standpoint had been echoed clearly and sufficiently by almost every of the speakers. Then her observations and reflections on the key messages conveyed on the ceremony were shared, including needs for action on collaboration and cooperation globally, the importance of synergy and nexus approaches, and responsible individuals for the large-scale changes.
Finally, she showed her glad to witness the establishment of COMSTECH Forum on Environment and Ecosystem Restoration, and claimed that UNEP-IEMP would be willing to collaborate with the new organization.
Dr. Linxiu Zhang presenting the closing remark online
The ceremony began with inaugural session with Ambassador Shahid Kamal, Advisor (Climate Change), COMSTECH. During the ceremony, several specialists addressed speeches based on their research about land degradation worldwide. For more information about the ceremony, please visit COMSTECH’s website.
30 May 2022|News
On May 23, 2022, the project " African Forest Disturbance and Its Effects on Carbon Sink", led by Professor Ronggao Liu from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was launched virtually with participation of international and Chinese experts. The project is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under the joint agreement between NSFC and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and will be jointly implemented in 2022-2026 in cooperation with the UNEP-International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UENP-IEMP) and other African partners.
The kick-off meeting was chaired by Professor Xiaohan Liao, Deputy Director General of Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Linxiu Zhang, Director of the UNEP-IEMP, delivered an opening remark. Dr. Zhang expressed that UNEP will assist and support the project in the science-policy interface, joint capacity building and technology transfer, and bridging South-South cooperation. She also welcomed this project to provide invaluable contributions towards the digital transformation in developing countries as identified by UNEP Medium-Term Strategy 2022-25, the implementation of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and the database of the World Environment Situation Room.
Professor Ronggao Liu, Co-PI of this project, introduced the project objectives, work plan and related progress. This project will analyze the dynamics of forest in Africa and the drivers of disturbances, and assess carbon dynamics under disturbances. It will share a series of forest monitoring datasets and develop African forests remote sensing monitoring systems for application and promotion in African pilot countries (e.g. in Ghana, Madagascar, Kenya etc.). The project will overcome the monitoring technical challenges such of surface and mountain shadow, optimize the algorithm to finely depict the tree cover in savanna ecosystems, and reflect forest cover changes in Africa.
The invited review panel made valuable comments and suggestions for the project implementation and next steps. These invited members are Professor Qiao Wang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Mr. Zhongxin Chen from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Professor Jingming Chen, fellow of the Royal Canadian Academy of Sciences, Ms Xia Li, Director of the China-Africa Environmental Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Mr. Xingliang Chen, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, and Mr. Lianming Sun, Director of the Africa Office of the Global EnergyInterconnection DevelopmentandCooperation Organization.
The expert panel believes that the project is forward-looking, has solid science foundation and great practical value for African countries. They gave relevant suggestions from the perspectives of remote sensing monitoring accuracy and ground verification, data products sharing platform, China-Africa cooperation policy context, and the mechanism for forest remote sensing monitoring system application.
27 May 2022|News
Two research studies, i.e. Gender Equality and Sustainable Development in the Mountain Areas of Asia (Exploring the Role of Gender Equality in Addressing Climate Change, Biodiversity Conservation, Ecosystem Restoration and Food Security) and Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural Areas of Nepal (Ecosystem Restoration and Conservation for Resilient Livelihoods in the Rupa Lake Watershed of Nepal) have been featured on the South-South Galaxy platform. They both present the research work of UNEP-IEMP in collaboration with partners in other Southern countries, including Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Nepal, and Thailand. The topics focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on climate change, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration and food security, as well as ecosystem restoration and livelihoods, respectively.
The South-South Galaxy platform aims to promote South-South cooperation by providing access to a diverse range of knowledge and partners. Through the platform countries from the Global South, UN agencies, and other interested partners are able to connect, identify best practices, share their knowledge and initiatives, and collaborate with potential partners digitally. It is managed by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC). UNEP is the South-South Cooperation PartneroftheMonth from mid-April to mid-May 2022, during which UNEP’s work on South-South cooperation are highlighted and publicized on the Galaxy platform and social media channels.
UNEP- IEMP, as the first UNEP Collaborating Centre in the South and for the South, mobilising science to support policy setting for sustainable ecosystem management in developing countries and promoting a green economy and enhancing South-South cooperation, have been implementing a number of projects that highlight South-South cooperation. Many of them have been presented on the Galaxy platform. These include China-UNEP Partnership Promotes South-South Cooperation in Africa, South-South Cooperation to Tackle Climate Change, and Ecosystem Restoration in the Global South.
24 May 2022|News
On the eve of International Biodiversity Day, the United Nations Environment Programme-International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP) held its fifth Climate-Ecosystems-Livelihoods seminar titled " Transformation of Agrifood Systems and Biodiversity Conservation" online on 20 May 2022. The seminar was given by Dr. Shenggen Fan, Dean of Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy and Professor of China Agricultural University, and facilitated by Linxiu Zhang, Director of UNEP-IEMP. Nearly 300 researchers, students, and others interested on the theme attended the seminar.
Prof. Fan first introduced the concept of global agrifood system and pointed out the system is being impacted by a thicket of overlapping challenges, including deteriorating hunger and malnutrition around the world, increasing impacts of climate change, squeezed boundary of the Earth’s resources and environment, COVID-19, Russia-Ukraine conflict. Prof. Fan then elaborated the relationship between agrifood systems and biodiversity loss and described the economic costs of biodiversity loss, emphasizing that agricultural biodiversity was one of the keys to combating climate change and land degradation, as well as the fact that many crops were currently neglected and underutilized. Finally, Prof. Fan proposed to transform the agrifood systems to achieve win-win of food safety and health and biodiversity conservation through following three levers: improving dietary structure, reserving land for biodiversity, and changing farming practices.
Figure 1 Prof. Shenggen Fan delivering a lecture online
Prof. Fan’s seminar aroused a wide response from the audiences. They had in-depth exchanges with Prof. Fan on the improvement of dietary structure, nutritional security of vulnerable groups, development of organic food, effective utilization of local crops, and the role of women in the conservation and sustainable utilization of agrobiodiversity.
Figure 2 Online academic lecture
Transforming agrifood systems is a key to biodiversity conservation. It is also a core issue of UNEP-IEMP's Flagship Programme on Climate, Ecosystems, and Livelihoods (CEL) to adopt integrated approaches to achieve win-win of ecosystem protection and livelihood improvement. The seminar increased the understanding of global agrifood systems and its relationship with biodiversity conservation among participants, provided the opportunities of academic discussion and cooperation in relevant fields, and strengthened the communication between UNEP-IEMP and the institutions and universities in China.
For more information, please contact: Dr. Yunli Bai, yunli.bai@unep-iemp.org.
30 April 2022|News
On 28 April 2022, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a report titled "A Scientific Assessment of the Third Pole Environment" successfully online and at the venue in Beijing. The UNEP-IEMP co-organized the eventtogetherwith UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ITPCAS), as a special event to observe the year 2022 as the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development. Thelaunch event was moderated by Mr. Maarten Kappelle, Head of Scientific Assessments, Science DivisionofUNEP.
The venue for the launch event at ITPCAS
In the opening session, Ms. Isabelle Louis, Deputy Director, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, UNEP, congratulated all the experts behind this important report and praised it a product of the involvement of an interdisciplinary scientific community, providing a solid base for policies and actions to address the triple environmental crisis.
Mr. Basanta Shrestha, Director of Strategic Cooperation, ICIMOD, believed that the Third Pole Environment (TPE) assessment report would be highly valued in taking forward the new strategy being developed by ICIMOD, and wished to continue the fruitful and collaborative partnership with UNEP, the TPE, and other scientific organizations.
Prof. Yaping Zhang, Vice-President, Chinese Academy of Sciences, expressed warm thanks to all the contributors for the launch of TPE assessment report, and remarked that scientist and researchers around the world should think beyond boarder and continue international cooperation and interdisciplinary research to tackle challenges in the fast-changing era.
Mr. Jian Liu, Director, Science Division, UNEP welcome all the participants in the launch. He said launching the TPE assessment report is not only to fill in the knowledge gaps in the region and globally，but also to help identifying options for solutions for policy sector.He wished the triple party collaboration between UNEP, ICIMOD and CAS continue and have more outcomes.
Following the opening session, a keynote presentation made jointly by Profs. Tandong Yao, Lonnie G. Thompson, and Deliang Chen, Co-chairs of TPE, to introduce key messages from the report. As highlighted, the report provides a scientifically sound evaluation of a region with the largest complex of alpine ecosystems and freshwater systems in the world. It considers the changes that have taken place in the regional environment over the past 2,000 years, especially the changes today. It also looks to the future and underlines the importance of interdisciplinary research to address threats affecting this environment the Third Pole faces today and in the near future.
Prof.TandongYao, Lonnie G. Thompson, andDeliangChen, Co-chairs of TPE, making a joint keynote presentation
Six distinguished panelists joined in a panel discussion which was moderated by Mr. Matthias Georg Jurek, Programme Management Officer, UNEP Vienna Office. During the discussion, Dr. Nakul Chettri, Regional Programme Manager – Transboundary Landscapes, ICIMOD, shared experience from his work which largely on balancing conservation and development through science and policy interface and trusted partnership of diverse stakeholders.
Ms. Ermira Fida, Deputy Secretary, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stressed that climate was already impacting every corner of the world including the Third Pole Environment and she saw a very strong convergence from the TPE assessment report and those released by IPCC in recent days.
Prof. Shilong Piao from Peking University pointed out that to provide a clear road map in reducing the vulnerability and exposure of human and nature system to climate change, we still need to reduce uncertainty in understanding land surface process such as precipitation, temperature, and also ecosystems.
Dr. Ram Prasad Chaudhary, Professor Emeritus of Tribhuvan University, Nepal, suggested to assess local and traditional knowledge on climate change by local communities that can be a useful information for conservation and sustainable use of biological resources including wild medicinal plants.
Ms. Tina H.P. Schoolmeester from GRID-Arendal highlighted the global significance of the Third Pole Environment from the global linkage perspectives, and also suggested to have more efforts in communicating complex issues in clear, visual and informative manner.
Mr. Rinzin Dorji, Chief Forestry Officer/Park Manager, Department of Forests and Park Services, Bhutan reiterated that the TPE report was very timely and informative to guide local conservationists in integrating protected area conservation plans. He finally called for international communities to better support the work with local communities.
A screen capture showing speakers and panelists
This report is the first comprehensive assessment of environmental changes in the Third Pole that aims to present the latest knowledge on climate, freshwater bodies, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human impact on the environment. It was produced by UNEP in collaboration with the UNEP-IEMP, the Third Pole Environment, and the Pan-Third Pole Environment and supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research project, ICIMOD, and ITPCAS.
The full report and its Executive Summary in 6 UN languages are accessible at:https://www.unep.org/resources/report/scientific-assessment-third-pole-environment.
Related news release:
UNEP Event,https://www.unep.org/events/unep-event/launch-event-scientific-assessment-third-pole-environment
UNEP Story,https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/new-report-highlights-risk-global-warming-third-pole
Guangming Daily,https://news.gmw.cn/2022-04/29/content_35698730.htm
Guangming Daily APP,https://app.gmdaily.cn/as/opened/n/bcfacecba2ee4afab4646b365e710b67
Chinese Academy of Sciences,https://www.cas.cn/cm/202204/t20220429_4833327.shtml
China Development Gateway (CnDG),http://cn.chinagate.cn/environment/2022-04/29/content_78193828.htm
China News,https://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/2022/04-28/9742332.shtml
China News APP,https://m.chinanews.com/wap/detail/chs/zw/9742332.shtml
Science and Technology Daily,http://www.stdaily.com/index/kejixinwen/202204/2bb7e2b88c894523ba24b52578f81da6.shtml
ScienceNet.cn,https://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2022/4/478203.shtm
Sina,https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2022-04-28/doc-imcwipii7016532.shtml?finpagefr=p_114
China Environment News,https://res.cenews.com.cn/h5/news.html?id=971666
World Environment,https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/93QUfIS5uoX6tBM1Sk72Rg
CCTV,https://content-static.cctvnews.cctv.com/snow-book/video.html?t=1651187457371&toc_style_id=video_default&share_to=wechat&track_id=32F10935-6121-452E-937B-86B68BF68BF7_672896559234&item_id=13156796746097705035
Economic Daily News APP,https://proapi.jingjiribao.cn/detail.html?id=399989
China Youth Daily APP,https://s.cyol.com/articles/2022-04/29/content_Dl7ERdIL.html?gid=2V1Qqd1E
Wenhui APP,http://wenhui.whb.cn/zhuzhanapp/kjwz/20220428/463580.html
Sohu,https://www.sohu.com/a/542137811_120244154
BRTV,https://item.btime.com/402j06orcrm82tb88vf1au8v6h8
Beijing Daily,https://bj.bjd.com.cn/5b165687a010550e5ddc0e6a/contentShare/5b16573ae4b02a9fe2d558f9/AP626a920de4b053b14abea081.html
Tencent,https://new.qq.com/omn/20220428/20220428A0CX0L00.html
Beijing New APP,https://m.bjnews.com.cn/detail/165114186614550.html
