On 7 December, the fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the tenth Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the second phase of the fourth Conference of the Parties (COP4) to the Nagoya Protocol were formally opened in Montreal, Canada, with COP15 Chair Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment, presiding over the meeting and delivering a speech.

The theme of the second phase is “Ecological Civilization: Building a Community of Life on Earth”, which is the same as the first phase. The conference will jointly map out strategies and directions for global biodiversity conservation, and set clear targets, set routes and draw blueprints for strengthening biodiversity conservation in the coming period, which is of great significance. China encourages Parties to make positive political commitments and continue to increase international financial input to create favourable conditions for the consultation process. China welcomes high-level representatives, including ministers, heads of international organizations and institutions, to focus on resolving difficult issues and forging consensus, so as to give strong political impetus to the Framework document, the landmark outcome of the Conference.

The Conference will be attended by more than 17,000 participants, including the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), parties and stakeholder representatives.