The Kunming Declaration was adopted Wednesday at the ongoing 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu declared the adoption of the declaration at the High-Level Segment of the first part of COP15. "The declaration will send a powerful signal, showing the world our determination to solve the problem of biodiversity loss, and our stronger actions on the issues discussed at this high-level meeting," Huang said. The Kunming Declaration is a political declaration and the main achievement of this conference. The declaration commits to ensuring the development, adoption and implementation of an effective post-2020 global biodiversity framework to reverse the current loss of biodiversity and ensure that biodiversity is put on a path to recovery by 2030 at the latest, towards the full realization of the 2050 Vision of "Living in Harmony with Nature." The declaration took note of the theme of the UN Biodiversity Conference 2020: "Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth." Ecological civilization is a philosophy proposed by China. It declared that putting biodiversity on a path of recovery is a defining challenge of this decade, requiring strong political momentum to develop, the adoption and implementation of an ambitious and transformative post-2020 global biodiversity framework and putting forward the 17 commitments. "The Kunming Declaration details some of the key elements needed for success: mainstreaming, redirection of subsidies, rule of law, full and effective participation of indigenous people and local communities," said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
