The Economist - UK (2022-02-19)

The Economist February 19th 2022 53

China

Biodiversity

Conservation conversation

C

hina’s imprimaturon the “Kunming

declaration” goes beyond its name.

Signed by over 100 countries in October,

the pledge set the tone for cop15, the largest

un biodiversity gathering in a decade.

(First scheduled for 2020, it was delayed

several times because of covid-19.) The

conference, taking place in two parts, is be-

ing hosted by China for the first time. Its

second meeting was scheduled for April

but also looks likely to be postponed. The

host city is the capital of Yunnan, a south-

western province that is a showcase of the

biodiversity that China needs to preserve,

from steamy jungle to mountain glaciers.

As a forum in which China can demon-

strate its green leadership credentials,

cop15 has a special appeal. The country is

alert to the importance of global norms on

mitigating climate change. Even when in

dispute on other matters, America and

China have shown co-operation on limit-

ing emissions. But, with a Senate that has a

poor record for ratifying environmental

treaties, America is not a party to the un’s

convention on biodiversity, which was

signed into force by over 190 member

states in 1993. That lets China run this

show. The theme for Kunming is its home-

grown idea of sustainable growth: “eco-

logical civilisation”.

The term was written into China’s con-

stitution in 2018, suggesting how central it

now is in guiding development. The Kun-

ming declaration is filled with other fa-

vourite greening concepts of the Commu-

nist Party, including the “two-mountains

theory”, attributed to President Xi Jinping.

This states that “green mountains are gold

mountains”: that is, the environment can

no longer be sacrificed for development.

For decades, China pursued single-

minded economic growth, which allowed

millions to lift themselves out of poverty.

But pollution and over-exploitation dam-

aged wildlife and habitats. The number of

China’s terrestrial vertebrate species—a

good indicator of biodiversity—has halved

since 1970. More than one in five surviving

species faces extinction. In the five de-

cades to 2000 over half of the country’s

mangroves—essential breeding grounds

for aquatic life—disappeared. Some 90% of

grasslands are at varying stages of degrada-

tion or desertification, and almost half of

wild-animal populations are in decline,

decimated by the illegal trade in wildlife.

Yet, despite the ravages of urbanisation,

China has much left to protect. It is home

to 10% of the world’s plant species, 14% of

animal ones and 20% of fish. At the second

meeting, delegates will set goals for 2030

to preserve global plant and animal life.

The stakes are high. Signatories failed to

meet any of the targets they set for them-

selves in 2010, when they last met, in Ja-

pan. In October Mr Xi launched the Kun-

ming Biodiversity Fund, to which China

has contributed 1.5bn yuan ($230m). Li

Shuo of Greenpeace, an ngo, says this larg-

er commitment “could be the impetus oth-

ers need” to spend more. Mr Xi also an-

nounced the formal opening of five na-

tional parks, spanning 230,000 sq km,

home to over a quarter of China’s terrestri-

al wildlife species. (America’s 63 national

parks cover 340,000 sq km.)

Still, China’s broader commitment is

far from clear. In 2020, in a speech to the

unGeneral Assembly, Mr Xi unexpectedly

committed the country to carbon neutrali-

ty by 2060. Then in September he an-

S ANYA

China is trying to become a champion of biodiversity. It has a lot of work to do

→Alsointhissection

54 Theproblemofdualnationality

55 Chaguan: Hong Kong’s loyalty test