Action taken as climate and biodiversity threats mount

Progress witnessed

In Qinzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in November, 18 years after almost being killed by a fishing net, a Chinese white dolphin gave birth to her third cub.

The birth was encouraging news for a team of scientists stationed in the area for decades, as the newborn offered further proof that economic development and biodiversity conservation are not mutually exclusive.

In Qinzhou, a road separates the dolphin habitat from an area reserved for port construction work and economic development, ensuring the mammals are not disturbed. The rising number of white dolphins in the area has also attracted a large number of other aquatic species, benefiting local fishermen.

Meanwhile, in the Chinese capital, members of a scientific team have started a project with Liu Zhiqing, an artificial intelligence expert from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. The two sides are exploring AI's potential for contributing to this conservation work.

Zhao Yu, a member of the team, said:"We are discussing how to use AI to help scientists classify photographs of individual white dolphins through image recognition. Once applied, the project can greatly improve the accuracy of recognition and save scientists more time and energy for other research."

Liu and Zhao both expect the project to contribute to conservation work for more species.

Ahead of the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference, held in autumn in Glasgow, Scotland, three key players wrote: "The science is clear: climate, biodiversity and human health are fully interdependent."

This view was expressed by Frans Timmermans, the European Commission vice-president who heads the European Green Deal, Achim Steiner of the UN Development Programme, and Sandrine Dixson-Decleve from the Club of Rome think tank.

After several rounds of debates and arguments, the 197 participating countries adopted the Glasgow Climate Pact at the end of COP 26, marking a degree of historic and encouraging progress.

They reached a consensus on the need to come up with increased targets and action to prevent planetary warming exceeding preindustrial levels by 1.5 C.

The participants also reached consensus on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which relates to carbon market mechanisms, paving the way for effective implementation of the Paris deal to cut emissions through market-based approaches.

During the final days of the gathering, China and the US, which differ over many topics, agreed to work together to tackle this global topic, with the two countries issuing a joint declaration on enhancing climate change action throughout this decade.

Xie Zhenhua, China's special climate envoy, said global warming is increasingly urgent and severe, and the two nations should shoulder international responsibilities and obligations.

John Kerry, his US counterpart, said cooperation is "the only way to get things done".

"We cannot reach our goals without countries working together, and China and the US, in particular, as the two largest emitters in the world, both have to help show the way," Kerry said.