ＣＰＡＦＦＣ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ａｔｔｅｎｄｓ ６０ｔｈ ＵＮ ＤＰＩ／ＮＧＯ Ｃｏｎｆｅｒｅｎｃｅ

Invited by the Department of Public Information (DPI) of the United Nations， a CPAFFC delegation led by its vice president Li Xiaolin attended the 60th DPI/NGO Conference at the UN Headquarters in New York from September 5 to 7， 2007.

The theme of the conference was Climate Change: How It Impacts Us All. More than 1，700 representatives of over 500 NGOs from 62 countries as well as the UN agencies and programmes， the scientific community， media and the private sectors participated in the conference， during which two plenary sessions—opening and closing sessions， 7 roundtables and 32 midday workshops were held to review the latest scientific evidence on climate change， including its impact on vulnerable populations， water security， land use， the politics of energy and sustainable development.

The participants held， climate change is one of the most serious potential crisis humanity has ever faced. It will cause catastrophic effects to earth’s ecosystems， significantly reduced availability of food， water， energy and transport， massive migration of populations and the possible destruction of small island nations， significant damage to our economic， political， cultural， social basis and increased local， national and international violence.

At the closing session， Conference Declaration entitled Climate Change Threats—An NGO Framework for Action was adopted. It is stated in the Declaration that climate change poses threats on humanity in various aspects such as sustainable development， agriculture， forestry， indigenous peoples， biodiversity， livestock and animal welfare， nuclear proliferation， disarmament， and the end of war， ethnic groups， youth， education， poverty， food and water security， global security as well as mental， spiritual and physical health. It is decided to propose NGO solutions to these threats over the next 12 months. It is strongly recommended in the Declaration that all governments and civil society make the well-being of all humankind their priority; all educational institutions and media organizations more effectively educate about the issue of climate change with special emphasis on youth; governmental authorities consider penalties for excessive consumption and pollution as well as financing incentives to foster climate-friendly technologies; all governments recognize that war is damaging to the climate and ratify UN conventions on climate change.

In her speech entitled Make Better Use of the Land at a roundtable， CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin said， China successfully feeds its people—21 percent of the world’s population with the land only 7 percent of the world’s total.Particularly in the past over 20 years since reform and opening up， China has achieved fast economic growth and lifted 228 million people out of poverty. The Chinese Government has formulated the basic national policy of effectively protecting farm land. Li briefed about the achievements China made in afforestation， prevention and control of sand erosion and rational utilization of land， as well as many challenges the Chinese Government has faced in the course of fast economic growth such as environmental pollution， resource conservation and imbalance between urban and rural development. Li said， to help the Chinese Government solve the above problems， the CPAFFC with the fund raised at home and abroad has set up a farmer training fund to facilitate the farmers to obtain practical technologies and work out a new way of conserving， efficient and intensive use of land to achieve high yield while improving rural living environment. Li stressed that China’s economic and social development is a contribution to realizing the UN Millennium Development Goals and coping with the challenges posed by climate change.

Over 40 representatives of 12 Chinese NGOs including the China Association for NGO Cooperation， the China Association for Science and Technology， the China Association of Women Entrepreneurs， the Association for International Understanding of China and the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament also attended the annual conference.