The biodiversity COP15 is about to begin. (Photo: CFP)
The world is eager for a way out of the global biodiversity problem, said Huang Runqiu, president of 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), during a press conference in Montreal, Canada on Tuesday.
Huang said the biodiversity problem is an "unprecedented crisis" and all sides of the meeting want to find a viable solution to it.
The first phase of COP15 was held in southwestern China's Kunming in October 2021, and the second part will open in Montreal on Wednesday. China will continue chairing the meeting.
Delegates from about 190 countries will assemble for nearly two weeks to finalize a framework for protecting 30 percent of global land and marine areas by 2030.
"The change of location was a hard decision for the Chinese side," Huang said. "It showed China's determination to improve the global governance of biodiversity."
The United Nations conference comes less than a month after countries gathered to tackle climate change, agreeing for the first time to pay poor countries for the damage being caused by a warming planet.
