New Delhi: The UN Biodiversity Conference, which includes the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-15), will be convened virtually between October 11-15, announced the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Meanwhile, the final negotiations on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework will be conducted during the face-to-face meetings in Kunming, China, from April 25 to May 8 in 2022, the CBD Secretariat said in a statement.

The opening meeting will address agenda items essential to the continued operations of the biodiversity convention and its protocols.

It will also include a High-Level Segment to be held on 12 and 13 October and expected to produce a 'Kunming Declaration' adding political momentum to the framework negotiations.

The 10th meeting of Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CP-MOP 10) and the 4th meeting of Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (NP-MOP 4) too will be held next spring.

Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China, Huang Runqiu, said that at the two-week in-person Kunming meetings next spring, a global framework agreement will be presented for final consideration and decision by the CBD's 196 parties. India too is a signatory to the Convention.

Meanwhile, CBD Executive Secretary, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema said, "Addressing the challenge of halting ongoing losses of species and genetic diversity and the damage to our ecosystems will determine the well-being of humanity for generations to come. Protecting nature's invaluable contributions to people requires that we harmonize our policies and actions at every level."

"Convening COP-15 in two parts will enable maximum progress on the several remaining difficult issues prior to our conclusive face-to-face sessions in Kunming," she added.

The year 2021 is a crucial year for ecological transition and climate, with a number of global events, such as the Conference of the Parties of the three Rio Conventions on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Desertification; the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; the United Nations Food Systems Summit and the United Nations Ocean Conference, taking place in the next few months.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Sambad English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)