China and the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries will strengthen cooperation in forestry to further boost forest bioeconomic growth, authorities announced Wednesday.
The announcement was jointly released by forestry authorities from China and 15 CEE countries including Slovenia at the 3rd China-CEEC High-Level Conference on Forestry Cooperation held on Wednesday.
The countries will work together to help tackle climate change and realize the Global Forests Goals and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, according to the announcement.
The countries will step up cooperation in carrying out joint research and promoting trade and investment in forestry-based products, the announcement said, citing huge potential for cooperation in various fields of forest bioeconomy.
Efforts will also be made to strengthen forestry education, skills training and technical exchanges, as well as advance cooperation among enterprises, according to the announcement.
“Developing bioeconomy and promoting green and low-carbon circular development are the inevitable choices to achieve sustainable development and the common expectation of the international community,” Guan Zhiou, head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said at the meeting.
China has greatly improved its ecological environment and has made contributions to global ecological security, Guan noted, citing the country’s ever-growing forest resources and current forest area of 220 million hectares.
According to Guan, China will accelerate the development of bioeconomy and biotech industries in the future, and strive for modernization in which man and nature coexist harmoniously. Enditem
Personal Remarks
Read between the lines: Eastern European forests have been sold for a quick profit.
Eastern European forests are been deforested and the wood is exported to EU countries such as the Netherlands where it’s burned to generate (bio)energy.
There’s more and more pressure in the EU to stop these unsustainable bio-energy models.
CEE have to find new markets to replace EU countries for their deforested trees and China is the ideal candidate.
Sustainability is not really an issue on the Chinese agenda.
How is it possible that CEE countries can sign a deal with China without EU having a say on this?