The sudden COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of 2020 has given mankind a deeper understanding of nature and life. As former French President Georges Pompidou said, “The domination of man over nature has become so complete that it entails the risk of the destruction of nature itself.” Human being is part of the natural ecosystem, while the evolution of life is the result of coordination and adaptation with the environment. The outbreak of each pandemic seems to remind us that the emergence of new diseases may be the result of ecological imbalances.

Starting in the 21st century, countries around the world began to explore green development approaches that took both economic growth and environmental protection into account. In recent years, China has proposed a green development concept that features the coordination of economic growth and environmental protection and has actively promoted the building of an ecological civilization. As an important part of ecological protection, biodiversity has been put on the agenda of countries. However, the value of biodiversity has not widely recognized, and it is essential for the sustainable development of economy and society. But the world is currently quickly losing its biodiversity, and about one million species are threatened with extinction. As one of the countries in the world with the richest assortments of species, China is also facing serious threats to that biodiversity. Under the leadership of the Chinese Government and with the support of society, China has achieved tremendously in biodiversity conservation. At present, the country’s biodiversity conservation actions are still facing many challenges.

Focused on efficiency and productivity to meet the needs of a growing world population, our globalized and highly specialized agricultural system is seeing negative impacts: a loss of diversity on farms, loss of ingredient diversity in diets, and the degradation of ecosystems. The private sector has come to an increasing awareness that the resources used by the food, textile and personal care industries are highly dependent on biodiversity, so companies have an incentive to protect and restore biodiversity and strive to improve the relationship between man and nature.

Danone believes that mankind’s dietary choices have a profound impact on our individual health, the health of society, and even the health of the planet, and that the sources of food and drink are highly dependent on biodiversity. This is a common challenge faced by man and urgently needs the whole of society to work together to catalyze systematic change. Biodiversity conservation should take the balance of ecological protection and sustainable use of resources as the basic concept and drive the whole society to participate in co-governance. Biodiversity co-governance should take the establishment of regulations and governance frameworks as the starting point, promote regenerative agriculture as an innovative approach for agriculture, and strengthen the participation of the business and the public, thus achieving biodiversity conservation and restoration.

The article aims to analyze the current status of global biodiversity. In doing so, we attempt to learn from existing practices of global biodiversity conservation, including the balancing of economic development and ecological protection, about governance frameworks and measures, and corporate participation. We briefly summarize the significance of biodiversity conservation measures, highlight that worth emulating, and offer recommendations for the engagement of key stakeholders in biodiversity conservation, in support of China's green development.

Download the full report：Biodiversity: A Critical Aspect Contributing to the Green Development