From October 11 to 15, the first stage of the 15th United Nations Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP15) was held in Kunming, China, entitled “Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth”. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, delivered a keynote speech at the Leaders’ Summit.
As one of the well-known specialists in the field of environmental law, Prof. Qin Tianbao has played a significant role in the COP15. Prof. Qin is the Director of the WHU Research Institute of Environmental Law (RIEL) and the chief expert of the WHU Academy of International Law and Global Governance. Based on his years of research experience, he gave full play to the advantages of Wuhan University’s expertise in environmental law, contributing to global biodiversity protection by participating in negotiations, publishing papers and accepting interviews.
Prof. Qin attending the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference
Since 2014, Prof. Qin has served as the representative of the Chinese delegation in negotiation on the Convention on Biological Diversity, and has been elected as a member and the Vice-Chair of the Compliance Committee of the Nagoya Protocol on the recommendation of the Chinese government. He has also been involved in the online negotiation of relevant issues. As the only law professor and university representative in the delegation, he successfully completed the tasks during the first stage of the COP15.
On October 8, ahead of the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference, the white paper Biodiversity Conservation in China was issued. This is the first white paper of China addressing biodiversity. The interpretation article Current Situation and Future of China’s Biodiversity Legislation by Prof. Qin was published on the official account of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the PRC and China Daily online. Two English opinion articles A Sound legal System for Biological Diversity and Life Guards by Law were published in China Daily. He was invited by the CGTN program “The Point” to have a dialogue with the host and interpret the white paper to the global audience from the perspective of the rule of law.
Prof. Qin in the TV program “The Point”
To introduce China’s efforts and achievements in biodiversity conservation and show China’s contributions to building a shared future for all life on Earth, Prof. Qin has been heavily involved in the interviews of CCTV, CGTN, China Youth Daily and other media. In his interview with CCTV news, he revealed China’s transformation from being a follower, a participant to an active contributor in global biodiversity governance in recent years.
Prof. Qin interviewed by CCTV
Ms. Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, highly commended Prof. Qin for his work and efforts in biodiversity governance and the UN Biodiversity Conference. She said, “During my practice of international environmental law for more than 20 years, I have always seen the figures and heard the voices from the environmental law research team of Wuhan University.”
Rewritten by An Lan
Edited by Chen Jiaqi, Qin Zehao & Yu Jianan
Source: https://news.whu.edu.cn/info/1002/65586.htm
