As a follow-up of the Sino-German Workshop on Green COP held on October 28, 2019, the Environmental Partnership Project organised a virtual seminar on the preparation of a sustainable COP for the members of the Chinese Committee for the preparation of the CBD COP 15 on the 9^th of March. The opening speech from German side was held by Ms. Inka Gnittke, Head of Division – International Cooperation on Biodiversity and CBD National Focal Point (BMU). From Chinese side, Ms. WANG Ying, Team Leader – Meeting Service and Logistics of the COP 15 Preparatory Committee (FECO) opened the seminar. The speakers Ms. Annette Schmidt-Räntsch (BMU) and Ms. Kerstin Pettenkofer (Expert for Sustainable Event Management) focused on experiences from the sustainable organisation of the UNFCCC COP 23 in Bonn as well as on current standards for sustainable event management. At the special request of the Chinese partners, Ms. Veronica Veneziano, the new Executive Director of the ‘Biodiversity in Good Company’ initiative, reported on the initiative, its origins and current developments.

Participants were officials involved in the preparation of the CBD COP 15, such as COP 15 Preparatory Committee, the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center of MEE (FECO), the Yunnan Provincial Preparatory Office for COP 15, the Ecology and Environment Bureau of Yunnan Province, the Ecology and Environment Bureau of Kunming City as well as the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the CBD Secretariat, the ‘Biodiversity in Good Company’ Initiative, GIZ and experts.