EU Council Presidency welcomes Kunming Declaration on biodiversity conservation

Photo taken on Oct. 12, 2021 shows the interior view of the media center of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP15, in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province. COP15 kicked off in Kunming on Oct. 11. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing)

LJUBLJANA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia, current holder of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), on Wednesday welcomed the "Kunming Declaration," which was adopted earlier in the day by government ministers meeting for the United Nations (UN) Biodiversity Conference in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming.

"We believe that the adoption of the Kunming Declaration ... is a step in the right direction," Jasmina Spahalic, a spokesperson for the Slovenian EU Presidency, said in a statement sent to Xinhua.

"We expect the declaration to have a positive impact on transformation ... needed to stop the loss of biodiversity by 2030," the statement said.

Slovenian experts also welcomed the declaration, which urges governments to put the protection of habitats at the centre of decision-making.

This declaration is a "very good response to COVID-19, which showed that people need nature and all living things around them," Joze Bavcon, head of the Botanic Gardens of the Ljubljana University, told Xinhua.

"China is working very hard in favor of nature ... and is creating a lot of gardens in the cities," he said, recalling that China aims to increase its global role in nature preservation.

"COVID reminded us that we forgot about the environment in a period when we were preoccupied with fast development," Bavcon said.

He said that the declaration is a positive step, which could help the conservation of biodiversity, provided that the governments aim for a balance between making profits and preserving nature.

Spahalic said that biodiversity will have to be included in all government policies, including economic and financial ones, and measures to protect biodiversity must be strengthened at the local, national and global levels.