Chinese President Xi Jinping called Wednesday, September 30 at the virtual UN summit on biodiversity for a new "
ambitious
"
international agreement
, but without announcing any new commitment from China on the protection of nature as he said. made last week with the promise of carbon neutrality in 40 years.
Read also: In China, Xi Jinping's new climate ambition
190 countries had committed in 2010 to 20 goals for nature protection by 2020: none have been met, according to a recent UN report.
Faced with this failure, more than 60 leaders on Monday signed a new pledge on reducing air and ocean pollution and transitioning to a sustainable agri-food system by 2030, but neither the United States, nor China are among the signatories, while the Chinese city of Kunming will host a major UN conference on biodiversity (COP15) at the end of 2021 to perhaps adopt the equivalent of the Paris climate agreement, but for the biodiversity.
NGOs were expecting a possible surprise from Xi Jinping in his speech on Wednesday, but the leader has reportedly postponed any concrete announcement until next year.
"
As the largest developing country, China is ready to take international responsibilities in proportion to its level of development, and to contribute to global environmental governance
," Xi said, calling for the adoption of a “
comprehensive, balanced, ambitious and applicable framework for action
” at COP15.