Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth* Xi Jinping: We need to find a way for man and nature to live in harmony, balance and coordinate economic development and ecological protection, and work together to build a prosperous, clean and beautiful world.
We present to your attention the full text** of the sity (COP15) will be hosted by China next year
speech of the Chinese President Xi Jinping, on in the city of Kunming. COP15 offers an oppor-
Wednesday, at the United Nations (UN) Summit tunity for the parties to adopt new strategies for
on Biodiversity, September 30th, 2020: global biodiversity governance.
At present, there exists an acceleration of
Mr. President, the global extinction of species. The loss of bi-
Colleagues, odiversity and the degradation of the ecosystem
pose a major risk to human survival and devel-
At the special moment as the United Nations opment. COVID-19 reminds us of the interde-
marks the 75th anniversary of its founding and pendence between man and Nature. It falls to
countries around the world strive to emerge all of us to act together and urgently to advance
from COVID-19 and promote high-quality protection and development in parallel, so that
economic recovery, the UN has convened this we can turn Earth into a beautiful homeland for
Summit on Biodiversity. It gives us an oppor- all creatures to live in harmony. To that end, I
tunity to discuss major issues of biodiversity would like to make the following proposals:
protection and sustainable development and First, we need to adhere to ecological
therefore has both practical and far-reaching civilization and increase the drive for build-
significance. ing a beautiful world. Biodiversity affects the
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the well-being of humanity and provides the very
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diver- basis for the human race to survive and thrive.
* The text is titled by BRIQ.
** The text is retrieved from https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-09-30/Full-text-Xi-Jinping-s-speech-at-UN-summit-on-biodiversity-
Udo37GZogE/index.html.
How to cite: Xi, J. (2021). Ecological civilization: Building a shared future for all life on earth. Belt & Road Initiative Quarterly, 2(3). 27-30.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity via video on Sept. 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
The industrial civilization, while creating vast nity. Faced with the risks and challenges to the en-
material wealth, has caused ecological crises as vironment worldwide, countries share a common
manifested in biodiversity loss and environmen- stake as passengers in the same boat and form a
tal damage. A sound ecosystem is essential for community with a shared future. Unilateralism
the prosperity of civilization. We need to take up finds no support; cooperation is the right way for-
our lofty responsibility for the entire human civi- ward. We must firmly safeguard the UN-centered
lization, and we need to respect nature, follow its international system and uphold the sanctity and
laws and protect it. We need to find a way for man authority of international rules so as to enhance
and nature to live in harmony, balance and co- global governance on the environment.
ordinate economic development and ecological Third, we need to continue with green devel-
protection, and work together to build a prosper- opment and increase the potential for high-quality
ous, clean and beautiful world. economic recovery after COVID-19. Globally, the
Second, we need to uphold multilateralism coronavirus has wreaked havoc on every aspect
and build synergy for global governance on the of economic and social development. We need to
environment. Since the founding of the UN, the have our eyes on the long run, have determination
international community has made active efforts and stay the course for green, inclusive and sus-
toward global environmental governance. Inter- tainable development. The UN’s 2030 Agenda for
national instruments such as the Convention on Sustainable Development points the way forward,
Biological Diversity, the United Nations Frame- and recognizes biodiversity as an important basis,
work Convention on Climate Change and the a goal and the means for achieving sustainable de-
Paris Agreement form the legal foundation for en- velopment. Recognizing that “our solutions are in
vironmental governance in their respective fields. Nature”, we could strive to find development op-
They represent important accomplishments of portunities while preserving Nature, and achieve
multilateral cooperation and enjoy broad support win-win in both ecological conservation and
and participation from the international commu- high-quality development.
Fourth, we need to heighten our sense of re- nated efforts to advance biodiversity govern-
sponsibility and strengthen the power of action ance. We have stepped up national legislation
to tackle challenges to the environment. Being for preserving biodiversity, and are drawing red
at varying stages of development, developed and lines for protecting the ecosystems. We have
developing countries have different historical effected a national parks system, carried out
responsibilities and practical capabilities for ad- major biodiversity conservation projects, and
dressing environmental issues. We need to up- increased social participation and public aware-
hold the principle of common but differentiated ness. For the last 10 years, China has topped the
responsibilities, ensure fair and equitable shar- world in forest resource increase, with more
ing of benefits, and accommodate developing than 70 million hectares of land afforested.
countries’ concerns over funding, technology We have made long-term, large-scale efforts to
and capacity building. We need to earnestly ful- combat sandification and desertification, and
fill our commitments, focus on our targets, and we have effectively protected and restored the
effectively reverse biodiversity loss so as to pro- wetlands. We now have one of the world's larg-
tect the planet we call home. est banks of genetic resources reserve. Ninety
percent of terrestrial ecosystem types and 85
Mr. President, percent of key wild animal populations are un-
der effective protection. “Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth”, which is the theme
of next year's Biodiversity Conference in Kun- Guided by the vision of building a
ming, embodies humanity’s hope for a better community with a shared future for
future. As the host country of COP15, China is mankind, China will continue to make
happy to share with all parties its experience of extraordinary efforts to scale up its
advancing biodiversity governance and ecologi- nationally determined contributions.
cal progress. - China has pursued development under the
vision of building an ecological civilization. From - China has taken an active part in global
the traditional Chinese wisdom that the laws of environmental governance. China takes seri-
Nature govern all things and that man must seek ously its obligations under environment-relat-
harmony with Nature, to the new development ed treaties, including on climate change and bi-
philosophy emphasizing innovative, coordinat- odiversity. We have hit, ahead of schedule, the
ed, green and open development for all, China targets set for 2020 for tackling climate change
has always prioritized ecological progress and and establishing protected areas. As the largest
embedded it in every dimension and phase of its developing country, China is prepared to take
economic and social development. The goal is to on international responsibilities commensurate
seek a kind of modernization that promotes har- with its level of development, and contribute
monious coexistence of man and Nature. its part to global environmental governance.
- China has rolled out strong policies and Guided by the vision of building a community
actions. China adopts a holistic approach to with a shared future for mankind, China will
conserving the mountains, rivers, forests, farm- continue to make extraordinary efforts to scale
lands, lakes and grasslands, and makes coordi- up its nationally determined contributions.
Xi Jinping visits Niubeiliang National Nature Reserve to learn about ecological conservation in the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua, 2020Xinhua (2020). The source article does not provide a separate full bibliographic entry for this citation.)
China will adopt even more forceful pol- biodiversity conservation and global environ-
icies and measures and strive to peak carbon mental governance require sustained efforts by
dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve all parties. I want to welcome you to Kunming,
carbon neutrality before 2060, thus making the beautiful “Spring City”, next year, to discuss
greater efforts and contributions toward meetand draw up plans together for protecting global ing the objectives of the Paris Agreement. biodiversity, and I look forward to the adoption of a comprehensive, balanced, ambitious and Mr. President, implementable framework of action. Now, let us
As the saying goes, “Little by little, grains proceed from this Summit and work in concert
of soil pile up to make a mountain and drops to build a beautiful world of harmony among all
of water converge to form a river.” To enhance beings on the planet.