Interview: WWF welcomes China’s key role in biodiversity, climate change negotiations

by Martina Fuchs
GENEVA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — China is playing a pivotal role in global biodiversity and climate change negotiations, Kirsten Schuijt, director general of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International, told Xinhua in a recent virtual interview.
“We need this leadership role from China moving forward,” she said. “We know that they’re serious about that.”
In its latest Living Planet Report, the WWF warned of a catastrophic 73 percent decline in the average size of vertebrate wildlife populations (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish) from 1970 to 2020. The world is approaching dangerous, irreversible tipping points driven by nature loss and climate change.
“Nature is issuing a distress call. The linked crises of nature loss and climate change are pushing wildlife and ecosystems beyond their limits,” said Schuijt, adding that biodiversity and climate change are “two sides of the same coin.”
The expert called for international efforts to tackle the climate and nature crises. “We have global agreements, now we need action from everybody. It’s not just a WWF thing or a government thing. We need action from corporates and businesses, and we need action from consumers and everybody.”
Schuijt also highlighted China’s leading role in promoting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework during its presidency of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15), which aims to reverse biodiversity loss worldwide.
Following a four-year consultation and negotiation process, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted during COP15 in 2022.
“China has really shown their leadership in the Kunming-Montreal protocol. The Chinese government played a key role in getting us over the finish line,” said the expert.
“WWF welcomes the ambitions of the Chinese government stands next to organizations like WWF to really accelerate the mitigation of CO2 emissions nationally because it has an impact globally,” she noted.
The Chinese government is already taking significant steps to reduce CO2 emissions and scale up biodiversity conservation, said Schuijt. “We must have China play that leadership role globally with us.”
Eyeing the upcoming COP29, scheduled from Nov. 11 to 22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Schuijt said that she hopes to see the agreement of a new, ambitious climate finance goal to meet the mitigation and adaptation needs of developing countries.
“There has been a lot of talk about funding the climate and biodiversity gap,” Schuijt said. “It’s not just about finding new funding. It’s also about redirecting all the billions and billions of dollars that fuel the nature and climate crises towards nature-positive projects and programs.” ■