The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP-15) was held in Kunming, in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, from October 11 to 15, 2021.
On this occasion, China announced that it will donate 1.5 billion yuan (about 232.5 million dollars) to a new fund for the conservation of biodiversity in developing countries.
At the end of COP-15, the Kunming declaration was adopted which provides for the commitment of governments to include the protection of habitats on their agenda. The Chinese environment minister, Huang Runqiu, however, specified that the declaration adopted is a political document and not a binding international treaty.
Cop-15 was preceded by the presentation of the white paper "Biodiversity Conservation in China" on October 8, 2021, which collects the policies and efforts adopted by the Chinese government to protect biodiversity.
Cop-15 will be followed by Cop26 in Glasgow, UK from October 31 to November 12, 2021, where world leaders will gather to discuss the fight against climate change.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will not participate in COP26 and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang after a meeting of the National Energy Commission in Beijing, declared that "the (Chinese) capacity for self-supply of energy must be improved. Given the predominant role of coal in the country's energy and resource endowment, it is important to optimize the coal production system, build advanced coal-fired power plants in line with development needs, and continue to phase out obsolete facilities in an orderly manner. National exploration of oil and gas will be intensified ". The words of the Chinese premier were followed by the announcement of the liberalization of the system that regulates the prices of energy produced from coal.
The Guardian called these statements by Premier Li Keqiang as "a blow to the ambitions of the United Kingdom to reach an agreement on the phase-out of coal and on the reduction of emissions at COP-26".
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