Opinion | How China and Britain can lead the biodiversity and climate debate in the Covid-19 era
- Two top conventions on biodiversity and climate change have been postponed but for the respective hosts, China and Britain, now is the time to lead the global discussion on conservation, linking up pandemics, public health and the environment
Covid-19 has upended the schedules for major gatherings relating to the environment. Two of the world’s most important meetings have been postponed, with new dates still to be agreed – the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD15), originally scheduled for October, and the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) originally scheduled for November.
China was to host for CBD15 in Kunming, Yunnan province, and Britain, COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. Despite the delay, these gatherings remain important politically to the two countries because they both want to play global leadership roles.
China and Britain, as host countries, have a responsibility to ensure the conferences run smoothly and have positive outcomes. They need to work closely with the UN and the governments of other countries that will be hosting several rescheduled pre-conference meetings and negotiations, as the two conventions are complex multilateral treaties.
