The 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP12) began in Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do (Ganwon Province), on October 6.

The opening ceremony was held at the Alpensia Convention Center and was attended by nearly 2,000 people. Among the participants were Braulio Ferreira de Souza Diaz, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner, Minister of Environment Yoon Seong Kyu and Gangwon Province Governor Choi Moon-Soon. The gathering was also attended by representatives from 194 countries, international organizations, non-government organizations and multinational corporations.

The biennial conference will last for two weeks, running until October 17, on the theme of “Biodiversity for Sustainable Development.” The meeting gatherers will review the implementation of the 2020 biodiversity goals and plans as outlined at the 10th conference, held in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010, and will make plans to achieve those goals. In order to achieve the 2020 biodiversity goals, they will also adopt a "Pyeongchang Roadmap" which will include a series of actions and goals that will cover cooperating on science and technology, raising capital and broadening biodiversity.


Minister of Environment Yoon Seong Kyu, chairing the conference, said that this conference could become an important venue where countries could share their experiences and discuss future plans. “Considering the importance of biodiversity for the happiness of humanity and for sustainable development, I would like to propose the adoption of a 'Gangwon Declaration,'” Minister Yoon added.

Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, CBD executive secretary, said, “Korea achieved remarkable development in both the economy and society. The country also became a good model of restoring the ecosystem and forests, as it has expanded the size of its forest coverage by as many as 11 times compared to before.” He expressed his hope that Korea could play a role in solving such global dilemmas by calling for cooperation from both developing and industrialized countries, noting that Korea was once an aid-beneficiary but has since transformed itself into a developed country.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said that various efforts among countries and regions were unable to systemically produce the desired outcome. “We need to extend successful cases of biodiversity protection at the international level in order to realize the universalism and integrity of biodiversity. The UNEP also needs to make efforts so that an agenda of biodiversity could be reflected in the development agenda.”




By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Korean Secretariat of the UN Biodiversity Conference
arete@korea.kr