BRUSSELS, March 16 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday called for a "Paris-style agreement for biodiversity," noting that the European Union (EU) is ready to broker its ambition at a United Nations biodiversity conference in China.
Speaking at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue 2021, von der Leyen said the European Commission will soon present a legal framework for the restoration of healthy ecosystems, with the ambition of protecting "at least 30 percent of land and sea in the EU."
The loss of biodiversity, she argued, means not only loss of "green space or natural habitat," but also loss of a "key ally" in the world's fight against climate change and rising temperatures.
The Paris Agreement, a historic accord that seeks to rein in climate change and ease its impacts, was reached at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) by the 196 Parties of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2015.
"We are ready to broker the same ambition at global level, at the next UN Biodiversity Summit in Kunming. Because this will have to be like COP21 was for climate!" von der Leyen said.
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) will be held in May in the city of Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Enditem
