22 December 2022|News
On 14 December 2022, Montreal – side event "Ecological Civilization: Towards Harmony between Human and Nature" was successfully held at China Pavilion during the CBD COP15-2. Mr. ZHAO Yingmin, Vice Minister of Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, Mr. David Cooper, Deputy Executive Secretary of CBD, and Mr. PAN Jiahua, Member of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences attended the opening ceremony. Dr. Linxiu Zhang, Director of UNEP-IEMP, shared good cases during the event.
In her presentation entitled "Ecosystem-based approaches for resilient livelihoods: evidence from developing countries", Director Zhang said that biodiversity and sustainable use are widely discussed nowadays, and people should be aware of the importance of synergies between "climate, ecosystems and livelihoods". She introduced UNEP-IEMP’s ongoing "climate, ecosystems and livelihoods" flagship program, which aims to improve human livelihoods through ecological restoration and provide better ecosystem service provisioning while adapting to climate change.
Using examples of "community-based fisheries in Nepal" and "smallholder seed systems from Naxi farmers in Yunnan", Linxiu demonstrated that active community participation and multi-stakeholder collaboration play a key role in achieving biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. She also emphasized that natural and human capital are fundamental factors in improving household livelihoods and achieving sustainable livelihoods, and that diversification of farming and non-farming activities can not only increase household livelihoods but also improve the ability of households to adapt to change.
She stated that the use of nexus approach requires multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral efforts by scientists, producers, consumers, practitioners and policymakers to link scientific knowledge to policy implementation. She concluded by emphasizing that women’s contributions to conservation efforts should be recognized and that women’s empowerment is a major key to success.
22 December 2022|News
Montreal, 14 December 2022 - Amid CBD COP15 negotiations, a side event "Recognizing and Managing the Value of Nature’s Contribution to People through Food Systems Transformation" highlighting making the economic case for pro-nature policies to achieve food systems transformation in the implementation of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and called for enhanced integration of nature’s value into post-2020 decision making. Public and private sectors from countries and regions voice their support for strengthening the recognition and management of nature’s contributions to people for sustainable and resilient agri-food systems in the post-2020 biodiversity conservation agenda.
"Food system transformation requires systems thinking and measurement and recognition of the true values and costs of public and private sector decisions that influence our food system" said Ms. Doreen Robinson, UNEP Principal Coordinator for Biodiversity and Land.
Mr. HUANG Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment of China and President of CBDCOP15 stressed in his opening remarks that "inadequate recognition and measurement of biodiversity values is one of the major reasons leading to the continuous deterioration of biodiversity." He also mentioned China’s efforts in practicing the "Green is Gold" – a key development concept operationalizing Ecological Civilization and the country’s engagement with The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) program since its early years. "The notion that natural ecosystems and the services they provide have a ‘value’ is becoming increasingly popular in China, however, the understanding and application of the TEEB approach by some local governments is still limited to calculating astronomical numbers on the books" he added, "it is expected that UNEP will provide more guidance and suggestions on how to apply the TEEB method in specific areas and scenarios to make socio-economic activities more friendly to biodiversity."
Mr. HUANG Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment of China and President of CBD COP15delivered an opening remark
Ms. Christianne van der Wal-Zeggelink, Minister for Nature and Nitrogen Policy of Netherlands pointed out that even in countries with very efficient agricultural systems like the Netherlands, biodiversity loss is still a challenge, so it is essential to promote a transition to more resilient food systems, and this requires a concerted effort and a balance between ecological, economic and social sustainability.
According to Mr. ZHANG Yaping, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it is important to "promote a sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems, protect biodiversity and restore degraded landscapes through a more systematic, comprehensive and scientific accounting of the costs and benefits of agricultural activities on nature".
Ms. Astrid Schmeiker, Director for Green Diplomacy and Multilateralism at the European Commission's Directorate-General for the Environment, presented the EU's many initiatives on biodiversity conservation, noting that the transition should involve every level and every individual, with a particular emphasis on recognizing the contribution of women and minorities to biodiversity conservation.
Representatives from governments, international organizations, academia, business, and civil society contributed vivid discussions and interactions around how making the economic case for pro-nature policies to achieve food system systems transformations is aligned with the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, including the need for metrics and framework, and challenges and opportunities ahead. The importance of accounting for positive and negative impacts and interactions in the context of food systems is repeatedly mentioned at the event given the fact that agriculture and food systems have a significant impact on nature, biodiversity, ecosystems, and the ability to sustain livelihoods.
The side event attracted more than 200 participants
The event was organized by UNEP, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the European Union, United Nations Environment Programme-International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP), Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES), and Capitals Coalition. It was attended by more than 200 participants on the site and more via the internet.
22 December 2022|News
12 December 2022, Montreal – side event "Exploration and Practice of Multi-stakeholder Participation in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use" was successfully held at China Pavilion during the CBD COP15 II part. It was co-hosted by Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment (NIES), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme – International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP), Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and Eco-Environment & Health (EEH). Mr. ZHAO Yingmin, Vice Minister of Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, Mr. David Cooper, Deputy Executive Secretary of CBD, and Mr. REN Hongqiang, Editor-in-Chief of EEH Journal attended the opening ceremony and delivered remarks.
UNEP-IEMP Director Dr. Linxiu Zhang delivered a keynote speech entitled "Enhance multi-stakeholder cooperation and nexus approach for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use". In her speech, Linxiu pointed out that "climate, ecosystems and human society" should be considered as a coupled system, and all parties should actively use a nexus approach to realize multiple benefits, use their interactions to promote synergistic development, i.e., promote ecological restoration and better ecosystem service provisioning while adapting to climate change.
Dr. Zhang said the implementation of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework should strengthen multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral research, and to combine multi-stakeholder efforts and active collaboration with governments and non-governmental organizations. She also emphasized that empowering women and promoting gender equality are critical to achieving SDGs and central to goals such as eradicating poverty and hunger, improving education and health, combating climate change, addressing environmental issues and others.
Group photo of guests
22 December 2022|News
From December 11 to 12, 2022, the CBD COP15 parallel event, the 5th Scientific Forum organized by the CBD Secretariat and co-organized by the Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences (CSES), the United Nations Environment Programme-International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP), and the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), was successfully held in Montreal. The Forum aimed to provide a platform for scientists, policy makers and other stakeholders to discuss and make recommendations on how science, technology and innovation can contribute to the implementation of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
The Session " The role of the scientific community in the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework" was led by UNEP-IEMP in content and moderated by Dr. Linxiu Zhang, Director of UNEP-IEMP, who also delivered a presentation entitled "Strengthening the Role of Scientists, Communities and NGOs in the Implementation of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework".
In the presentation, Director Zhang pointed out that in the context of the multiple challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, climate-resilient development requires considering the climate system, ecosystems, and human society as coupled systems. By sharing case studies of agrobiodiversity conservation for resilient livelihoods in rural areas from Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and China, she emphasized the importance of women's empowerment and promoting gender equality, implementing nexus approaches and bringing together cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary efforts, community participation, combining traditional wisdom and modern science, and private sector involvement.
The venue for the forum
In the session, science and technology and innovation actors such as research institutions, universities and companies discuss best practices in STI collaboration and innovation for transformation from multiple perspectives, including biodiversity (wetlands/oceans) and food security. The outcomes facilitate decision-making, monitoring and evaluation of government and business actions, and provide scientific guidance to promote biodiversity mainstreaming and public participation mechanisms with a view to making contributions to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. Negotiators and scientists from the COP, students from the Montreal area, and other COP participants, totaling more than 300 people attended the meeting on-site, and the forum provided a live online broadcast of the entire event, with a total of 1,930 online participants.
Group photo of sessionparticipants
20 December 2022|News
On December 16, 2022, Dr. Linxiu Zhang, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP), was invited to give an opening speech at the Launch Event of Aral Sea Ecological Restoration Plan. This event was organized by the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), together with partners from the Central Asia countries based on long term cooperation.
In her opening speech, Dr. Linxiu Zhang stated the vital role of ecosystem restoration and sustainable management to transform lives and economies while safeguarding the planet.She congratulated the launch of the Aral Sea Ecological Restoration Plan by all parties, and highly appreciated the invaluable experience for further South-South and triangularcooperation in the Aral Sea and the Central Asia region. She also reiterates the statement by UNEP that "the future of Aral Sea lies in transboundary co-operation" and encouraged more interdisciplinary research, cross-sector cooperation in the Aral Sea region.
Prof Chen Xi from the CAS Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia introduced the Aral Sea Ecological Restoration Plan, including the driving forces of Aral Sea shrink, its negative impacts and proposed interventions based on experiments and pilots. Water saving technologies were recommended for both development and ecological restoration, together with other biological- physical measures to recharge and restore the drying Aral Sea.
11 November 2022|News
On 10 November 2022, the World Estuarine Cities Conference for Cooperation and Development was successfully held in Dongying City, Shandong Province. The conference is co-sponsored by Shandong Provincial People’s Government, Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Yellow River Water Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources of China, and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). With the theme of "Embrace the Sea for a Shared Future", the conference aims to promote exchanges, mutual learning and cooperation among the world’s estuarine cities.
The conference consisted of an opening ceremony, a main forum and five parallel forums, among which the opening ceremony and the main forum were held in a hybrid format with in-person and online participants. Mr. Qingli Zhang, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Mr. Ganjie Li, Secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, attended and delivered speeches at the opening ceremony, witnessed by major government leaders of Shandong Province and Dongying City, diplomatic envoys of other countries in China, representatives of international organizations, and officials of the host organizations and partners.
Ms. Susan Gardner, Director of UNEP’s Ecosystems Division, addressed the opening ceremony on behalf of UNEP. She pointed out that estuaries were the rainforests of our ocean, and despite their importance, estuaries were on the front line of our triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and rampant pollution. She recommended we must support the global instrument to end plastic pollution, adopt the post 2020 global biodiversity framework, and stimulate public and private blue finance, so as to ensure economic circularity from source to sea and sufficient investment in nature-based solutions to protect estuaries.
Ms. Susan Gardner delivering video speech at the opening ceremony
The conference released several research outcomes and cooperation projects, announced the Dongying Initiative on Cooperation and Development of World Estuarine Cities and launched the World Estuarine Cities Partnership. As one of the co-organizers of the conference, Ms. Linxiu Zhang, Director of the UNEP-IEMP and her team attended the opening ceremony and the main forum online.
11 November 2022|News
Under the "Improving Ecosystem Management for Sustainable Livelihoods in Cambodia and China within the Framework ofLancang-Mekong Cooperation Project", financed by the UNEP-China Trust Fund Phase 2, the Action Learning mission was organized during24thto 27thOctober 2022 at the project pilot site- the PhnomKulen National Park in Siem Reap province. Its overall objective was to find out how the project interventions contribute to improved livelihoods and more sustainable landscape management. The mission, led by Edmund Barrow (consultant for UNEP), consisted of one planning day with the project team from the Ministry of Environment, Government of Cambodia, two days working with four Community Protected Areas (CPAs) who are the beneficiaries of the pilot interventions, and one day on reflections with the project team and the Siem Reap Provincial Department of Environment. In this regard, Tatirose Vijitpan, the project focal point from UNEP-IEMP, also participated in the mission.
With the total participants of 72 (40 women), the mission collected reflections from the communities on the project interventions. In general, they found the interventions implemented so far (i.e. Integrating black ginger in cashew nut plantations; Bamboo for ecosystem management and local livelihoods; Free-range chicken; and Organic vegetables) helpful and still practice those interventions. There are, however, some more practical knowledge required. For example, some black ginger sites received too much rain that the black ginger became rotten underneath the soil; therefore the sites should be on the slope or hill. The communities are also well-aware of the benefits the project interventions have brought in terms of both their improved livelihoods and ecosystem management. Moreover, those project interventions are well-received because the communities are not allowed to clear more land to expand their cashew nut plantation in the national park; therefore those livelihood options can serve as promising alternatives, whichalso help to prevent deforestation for agricultural expansion (for cashew in this case). The communities also provided suggestions what they have learned in the process and what they wanted to do next.It is interesting to note that ladies dominated attendance and were very active in participation.
Figure 1 Community workshop
Figure 2Project site for Integrating black ginger in cashew nut plantation
The results of this mission will become a basis for the project to further produce the knowledge products on "Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) and Action Learning at Local and Integrated Landscape Management Levels", led by UNEP.
01 November 2022|News
From October 25 to 27, 2022, the annual progress meeting of the international cooperation project ‘Global Biomass Resource Sustainability and Climate Change Adaptation Management ’ jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the UN Environment Programme (NSFC-UNEP) was held in Shanghai. Prof. Linxiu Zhang, Director of UNEP-IEMP and the foreign leader of the project, Prof. Yutao Wang, Domestic leader of the project, Dr. Mingxing Sun, Associate Professor of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Dr. Chengdong Wang, Associate Professor of Shanghai Ocean University, and relevant members of the project joined the meeting.
Figure 1 The venue for the meeting
During the meeting, the participants conducted field research in Chongming Dongtan Bird National Nature Reserve, and communicated with the researchers of the National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary Wetland Ecosystem in Shanghai, Fudan University. The participates focused on biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration in Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve, and exchanged views on how to further promote the integrated ecological and green development of Yangtze River Delta, promote biodiversity conservation and the harmonious coexistence of human and nature.
Figure 2 The field research in Chongming Dongtan Bird National Nature Reserve
During the meeting, the participants conducted field research in Chongming Dongtan Bird National Nature Reserve, and communicated with the researchers of the National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary Wetland Ecosystem in Shanghai, Fudan University. The participates focused on biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration in Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve, and exchanged views on how to further promote the integrated ecological and green development of Yangtze River Delta, promote biodiversity conservation and the harmonious coexistence of human and nature.
30 September 2022|News
With warm invitation from the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing, on September 28, 2022, Ms Tatirose Vijitpan, Focal Point of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Portfolio and Climate Change Adaptation Specialist of UNEP-IEMP, attended a meeting at the embassy, led by Dr Pasupha Chinvarasopak, Minister-Counsellor for Science, Science and Technology Section, Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing.
The objective was mainly to introduce the work of UNEP-IEMP, particularly in the Greater Mekong Sub-region and Thailand, and explore opportunities to collaborate. During the meeting, several projects and activities in the region under the UNEP-IEMP Climate, Ecosystems and Livelihoods (CEL) flagship programme, Chinese expertise mobilized and South-South Cooperation aspects, as well as other global platforms were presented. The highlight was on potential partnership to engage Thailand and China in initiative on ecosystem restoration and local livelihood improvement.
In this regard, the meeting came up with an initial plan to transfer know-how and technology from China to Thailand to use bamboo for ecosystem restoration and local livelihood improvement. This topic has been of interest in Thailand, from policy makers to farmers, but the country still lacks expertise and experience. China, as the world leader in bamboo industry, will be in the best position to fill these gaps.
To realize this collaboration, UNEP-IEMP, with technical support from related Chinese institutions, will prepare a concept note. Once agreed upon, the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing will facilitate this collaboration with the relevant government agencies and institutions in Thailand.
