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E-mail China.org.cn, October 26, 2024
On October 25, local time in Colombia, the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) hosted the Forum on Energy Transition Promoting Biodiversity Conservation during the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16). This event marked the first release of the List of Energy Transition for Biodiversity, which aims to guide countries in prioritizing biodiversity conservation during energy transitions and promote coordinated governance of energy and biodiversity.
The inaugural batch of projects was selected from over 130 global cases, highlighting 10 representative, innovative, and effective initiatives from six countries: China, Singapore, Chile, Sweden, Italy, and Ethiopia. （Notably, this includes projects from five Chinese enterprises—State Grid Corporation of China, China Southern Power Grid, China Huaneng Group Co., Ltd., China Three Gorges Corporation, and State Power Investment Corporation Limited—demonstrating China's significant contributions to biodiversity conservation.）
As an official event of COP16, the Forum on Energy Transition Promoting Biodiversity Conservation was co-organized by GEIDCO, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), and the World Resources Institute (WRI). During the forum, GEIDCO also unveiled the report on the Coordinated Governance of Energy, Climate, and Biodiversity, and proposed strategies for addressing climate change while conserving biodiversity through energy transitions.
Liu Zehong, Executive Vice Chairman of GEIDCO, remarked that since the industrial revolution, the large-scale development and use of fossil fuels have spurred productivity growth but also posed challenges such as climate change, environmental pollution, and habitat destruction, leading to a decline in global biodiversity. He emphasized the urgency of achieving harmony between energy activities and the earth's ecology, seeking coordination between energy development and ecological protection while minimizing the negative impacts of fossil fuel exploitation.
Liu highlighted that at the macro level, building the Global Energy Interconnection (GEI) can significantly promote global carbon neutrality and mitigate the effects of rising global temperatures on biodiversity. At the meso level, it can help mitigate and eliminate biodiversity damage caused by fossil fuel development. At the micro level, initiatives such as installing artificial bird nests on power towers, creating migration pathways for aquatic animals around hydropower stations, and implementing PV-based desertification control can effectively reduce habitat destruction and enhance ecological restoration. The GEI offers a path forward, balancing energy needs with environmental protection and demonstrating that economic development can coexist with environmental preservation—truly embodying sustainable development.
This forum has received strong support from the governments of China and Colombia.The distinguished guests present included Zhou Guomei，China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Carlos Adrian Correa Florez, Director General of the Energy Planning Office of Colombia. And the keynote speakers included Manuel Rodríguez Becerra, Emeritus Professor at the University of the Andes and Colombia's first Minister of Environment, Tim Scott, UNDP Policy Advisor, Helen Ding, Senior Economist & Head, Equitable Economics Innovation, Economics Center of WRI Europe, and Lan Hong, Deputy Director of the Eco-Finance Research Center at Renmin University of China. Jeffrey D. Sachs, President of the SDSN, delivered a video message.
As an observer at UN Biodiversity Conference, GEIDCO actively contributes to global governance of energy, climate, and biodiversity. The GEI has been integrated into the UN frameworks for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. It has been included in the policy briefs of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development for six consecutive years, and the GEI carbon neutrality scheme has been included in the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). GEIDCO has emerged as a vital force in promoting global energy cooperation and green development.
