United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and several heads of state emphasized the need for countries to expedite negotiations to support global biodiversity conservation at the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, on Tuesday.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro highlighted the importance of discussing collective strategies to tackle the challenges posed by climate change and to protect biodiversity.
In light of the alarming loss of biodiversity, COP15 established the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. COP16 is viewed as a pivotal moment for action and implementing the framework's goals.
Guterres warned that the world is in a "war" with nature, a conflict that has no winners, and urged nations to take concrete steps to protect biodiversity and fully realize the framework's commitments.
Under the theme of "Peace with Nature", COP16 is underway in Cali from October 21 to November 1.
Global leaders gather in Colombia to boost biodiversity conservation efforts
Global leaders gather in Colombia to boost biodiversity conservation efforts
China and Greece launched their first joint archaeological project at the Chinese School of Classical Studies at Athens on Friday.
Located in western Greece, the Aggelokastro project marks the first time that Chinese archaeologists have participated in leading roles of an excavation project in a core region of Western civilization.
The project is an important part of systematic cooperation between the Greek Ministry of Culture and the Chinese School of Classical Studies at Athens, and has been approved as part of a five-year joint archaeological program.
Aetolia-Acarnania, where Aggelokastro is located, has been an important area for Greek archaeological studies since the 19th century.
"Within the Aetolia-Acarnania area during the Hellenistic period (323 BC-31 BC), that's around China's late Warring States Period to early Han Dynasty, an Aetolian League was formed, and there were extensive cultural exchanges across the Eurasian continent. Now we can say that the ruins were a significant small city-state at that time. It is also hoped that we could discover some clues of ancient long-distance trade," said Li Xinwei, head of the Chinese School of Classical Studies at Athens, which was founded in November 2024 as the first research institute on classical civilizations established in Greece by an Asian country.
China, Greece launch first joint archaeological project, seeking clues of ancient trade
