The Kunming Biodiversity Fund, aimed at supporting biodiversity conservation in developing countries, was launched in the Chinese capital of Beijing on Tuesday, and is expected to make a significant contribution to aiding developing countries in conserving and reversing their biodiversity loss.

The signing ceremony for the fund was witnessed by officials from China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment and relevant UN agencies.

In October 2021, China announced the initiative to establish the fund and led by investing 1.5 billion yuan (over $210 million) during the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) held in Kunming City, southwest China's Yunnan Province. The fund is intended to support biodiversity protection efforts in developing countries.

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang stated that all parties should view the launch of the Kunming Biodiversity Fund as an opportunity to enhance biodiversity protection and build a shared future for all life on Earth. He emphasized the importance of practical actions to provide financial, technical and capacity support to developing countries in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Framework, adopted at COP15 to reverse biodiversity loss and steer the world towards recovery.

Ding also stressed the significance of solidarity and cooperation, maintaining multilateralism and international operations, and welcomed contributions from relevant countries, institutions and organizations to the fund.

UN Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen also stressed the significance of the launch of the Kunming Biodiversity Fund, calling it critical to the support for developing countries in biodiversity conservation. She expressed optimism about the initiative, citing China's positive experiences in conserving biodiversity domestically and the potential for knowledge transfer to other nations.

Under the Kunming-Montreal Framework, 23 goals were established to support biodiversity conservation. Fulfilling the goals are challenging for some developing countries, Andersen said, calling for concerted efforts from all countries to take action and make contributions to biodiversity conservation.

She also spoke highly of China's achievements in ecological protection over the past years, including the implementation of the ecological red-line policy, the establishment of national parks and the conservation of wetlands. She in particular mentioned the significant growth of mangroves in China and its protection of the endangered giant panda.

"China has positive lessons at home in conserving biodiversity. Therefore, we will hope to also learn from those lessons and transfer them to other countries," Andersen said.

(With input from Xinhua.)