Interview: Int'l union chief urges consensus to secure UN biodiversity deal

MONTREAL, Canada, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Gaps need to be bridged at the ongoing UN biodiversity meeting to secure a global biodiversity deal to halt biodiversity loss, Bruno Oberle, director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has said.

The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) is due to conclude here on Monday with a crucial outcome document expected.

The meeting offers a unique opportunity to set a clear path towards a nature-positive society and economy by 2030, said Oberle.

As a membership union composed of government and civil society organizations, the IUCN has more than 1,400 member organizations and 15,000 experts. It also provides conservation data, assessments and analysis, offers a neutral space for debate and implements conservation projects worldwide.

Oberle told Xinhua that biodiversity protection is "a long-term process."

"A COP simply is a moment when people come together, including governments, NGOs, and journalists, but the work continues between the COPs and at the state level, a lot of implementation work happens. So COP15 is a moment, part of a development," he added.

To effectively halt biodiversity loss, mechanisms are needed to regularly track how humankind will advance in implementing the action targets under the deal to adapt and change course as needed, he said.

Oberle stressed that accountability is the key. "Governments, and indeed all actors, must be responsible for the commitments made and answerable for negatively impacting biodiversity," he said.

The IUCN chief lauded China for spearheading the concept of ecological civilization.

"Indeed, environmental protection, social progress and economic development are inter-dependent and mutually reinforcing," Oberle said, noting that the concept of ecological civilization is also consistent with the IUCN's vision of a just world that values and conserves nature.

"China is sharing this concept with the rest of the world. It's a contribution that China has already been doing for a long time," he said.