Beijing, 14 September 2021: In his capacity of Advisory Board Member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), WBCSD President and CEO Peter Bakker, highlighted the role of businesses in halting biodiversity loss at the 2021 CCICED Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The hybrid 2021 CCICED AGM was held from 7 to 10 September under the theme “For Nature and Humanity: Building a Community of Life Together.” with plenary sessions, open forum sessions and sessions on the research outcomes of the CCICED Special Policy Study (SPS).
Peter Bakker attended the opening plenary session and delivered a keynote at the open forum on biodiversity themed “Ecological Civilization: Building a Harmonious and Beautiful World for All”. The forum, chaired by Gao Jixi, Co-Team Leader, CCICED SPS Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Conservation, focuses on innovative governance of global biodiversity and solutions and best practices for mainstreaming biodiversity.
CCICED Vice-Chairpersons Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment of China, and Kristin Halvorsen, Director of Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) and former Minister of Finance of Norway, gave the opening remarks.
Minister Huang noted that the Chinese government highly values the protection of biodiversity and sees it as an integral part of building “ecological civilization”. He added that as we are counting down to the 2021 United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Kunming, China in October, China will fulfill its obligations as the host country and work with global partners to jointly curb biodiversity loss.
In his opening keynote, Peter Bakker emphasized businesses need clear targets that are based in science, adding that climate change and biodiversity loss are intrinsically linked. To avoid dangerous, irreversible biodiversity loss, we must reach net-zero emissions before 2050 and become nature-positive by 2030. He added that this is a critical year for businesses and governments to take commitments that match the science.
WBCSD is already working on the intersections of the climate and nature agendas under Vision 2050. With our Natural Climate Solutions and Nature Action projects, WBCSD helps businesses collaborate across sectors and value chains to scale natural climate solutions and nature-based solutions.
Other remarks came from CCICED members and advisors including:
- Marco Lambertini, CCICED Member, Director General, WWF
- Hideki Minamikawa, CCICED Member, President of Japan Environmental Sanitation Center
- Naoko Ishii, CCICED Member, Professor, Executive VP and Director of the Center for Global Commons, University of Tokyo & Former CEO and Chair, GEF
- Partha Sarathi Dasgupta, Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Cambridge
- Ouyang Zhiyun, Director, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Zhu Chunquan, Head of Nature Initiatives & TFA, WEF Beijing Office
- Zhang Xiaoquan, Chief Science Officer, China, The Nature Conservancy
The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) was founded in 1992 as a high-level international advisory body with the approval of the Government of China. Every year, the Council organizes the Annual General Meeting (AGM) where Chinese and International Council Members discuss and deliberate on research issues and formulate CCICED Policy Recommendations to the Government of China.
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