First 9 small projects supported by Kunming Biodiversity Fund approved at COP16

The Executive Council of the Kunming Biodiversity Fund held a plenary meeting on Thursday to review and approve nine small projects, during the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Cali, Colombia.

These projects cover 15 countries, including one project in Central and Eastern Europe, four in the Asia-Pacific region, two in Africa and two in Latin America.

The fund, of which China was a leading founder, will respond to the needs of developing countries and implement a number of projects to help developing countries implement the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), starting with major goals including ecosystem restoration and protection, sustainable use of biodiversity, and prevention and control of invasive alien species, said Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu at COP16.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) appreciates the contributions made by China, which has done an extraordinary job on the agreement of the KMGBF, according to Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP.

In 2021, China pledged 1.5 billion yuan (about $210 million) for the establishment of the fund to support biodiversity conservation in developing countries. The fund was launched in May 2024.

COP16, which is expected to gather more than 12,000 participants, is being held in the Colombian city of Cali from October 21 to November 1. The meeting will discuss key issues such as the state of the implementation of the KMGBF and mobilizing financial resources.

(Cover: Logo of the COP16 at the Pacific Event Center, Cali, Colombia, October 10, 2024.)

(With input from Xinhua)