EU-China Training Workshop on Mainstreaming Biodiversity to Support GBF Implementation

On December 4-5, 2024, the EU-China Cooperation on Environment and Green Economy Project held a training workshop on mainstreaming of biodiversity to support implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in Beijing. Laurent Bardon, Counsellor for Environment and Climate Action, EU Delegation to China, attended the meeting and delivered opening remarks. Liu Ning, Director General for Ecological Protection at China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), and Anne-Theo Seinen, International Biodiversity Team Leader at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment, delivered keynote speeches.

The nearly 40 participants included representatives of: Chinese and European government, experts and scholars, local government officials responsible for biodiversity from Hunan, Shanghai and Zhejiang, international organisations such as the Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Development Programme, the French development agency AFD, the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), Campaign for Nature, IDDRI, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, as well as the Policy Research Center for Environment Economy (under MEE), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Forestry, the Institute of Finance and Sustainability, and Greenovation Hub.

The meeting provided an opportunity for bilateral sharing of takeaways from the recent 16th Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP16) and the progress of China and Europe in implementing the convention. The workshop involved in-depth exploration of key issues for the implementation of the GBF, including on resource mobilization, and biodiversity investment and financing, progress of mainstreaming biodiversity policies, and the application and innovation of other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs).

The meeting agreed that China and the EU are both important actors for biodiversity conservation, and biodiversity conservation has become an important topic in the China-EU leaders' dialogue and an important part of bilateral environmental cooperation. This dialogue promoted in-depth exchanges and discussions on key issues and strengthened communication between China and the EU in the field of biodiversity, and further promoted exchanges of views and enhanced understanding among government representatives, financial institutions, think tanks and other stakeholders. The workshop promoted joint efforts to strengthen biodiversity conservation, in order to support effective implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.