Dr. Zhou Jinfeng suggests IPBES: focus on education and the impact of e-commerce on biodiversity
2019/1/9 14:32:00 本站

November 2018-CBCGDF, as the observer and a stakeholder, was requested by IPBES to deliver suggestions to its next-stage plan. IPBES, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, is the intergovernmental body which assesses the state of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services it provides to society, in response to requests from decision makers. 

 

Right after the new year holiday, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, the Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation(CBCGDF), submitted the proposal representing CBCGDF. In his letter, he emphasized the need for education and the impact of e-commerce.

 

Dr. Zhou suggested that education should be included in the path of transformation. He pointed out that raising awareness through the education system is one of the keys to biodiversity conservation.

 

To Mainstream biodiversity, education is the utmost important tool. The lack of awareness may lead to indifference and unreasonable use of wildlife products. For example, in the textbooks of a school in China, Pangolins were described as a pharmaceutical ingredient. Textbooks of this kind exert a negative impact on the values of children’s worldview if Pangolins are viewed as edible animals in the textbook. And the potential negative impact of this textbook on endangered rare species is difficult to undo. After receiving the volunteer report in 2017, we asked the lawyer to send a warning letter in the summer of 2017 asking them to change the textbooks immediately.

 

Second, he suggested that the “circulation sector of commodities” should be considered when it comes to wildlife protection, especially e-commerce. This is because e-commerce is very wide connected due to its large size, fast and convenient, not easy to track, and easy to form a monopoly. The impact on biodiversity may be enormous; the environmental impact of the Internet platform (especially for biodiversity), both positive and negative, should be fully studied.

 

Third, Dr. Zhou suggested that the role of NGOs and the public in promoting biodiversity conservation should be taken into account in the IPBES working plan.


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(Photo credit: IPBES)


Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4937/7241.html


By / Cat