Hans Friederich, Director-General, International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR), addresses participants during the first day of BARC 2018
The Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress (BARC 2018) opened today at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, China, welcoming around 1,200 participants, including 500 from other countries. Zhang Jianlong, Administrator, National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), conveyed a welcome message from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, followed by video messages from Lenin Moreno, President, Ecuador, and Juan Manuel Santos, President, Colombia, and an address by Shitaye Minale, Deputy Speaker of the House, Ethiopia. Speakers highlighted their commitment to sustainable development and highlighted ongoing cooperation efforts on the use of bamboo and rattan in livelihoods, land restoration and mitigation of climate change. Hans Friederich, Director-General, INBAR, expressed appreciation to the Government of China for its role in organizing the conference. Hao Mingjin, Standing Committee, China National People’s Congress, highlighted China’s readiness to promote and deepen South-South cooperation, support INBAR’s work, and cooperate with the international community to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Rubén Flores, Chair, INBAR Board of Trustees, presented Jiang Zehui, Chair, BARC organizing committee, with a lifetime achievement award for her work in forest science, developing global standards for bamboo engineering, and enabling China’s support for INBAR and its establishment as an international organization. A ministerial summit took place in the morning, and a plenary dialogue on South-South cooperation in the early afternoon. Later in the day, parallel sessions convened around the venue, discussing experiences of bamboo and rattan-related cooperation among countries, public and private sectors, and industry and research actors.The Congress features an exhibition of bamboo products and innovations such as wind turbine blades made from bamboo.In the evening, participants attended a welcome dinner on the theme ‘Yong’an Night.’
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, provided daily digital web coverage and daily reports from BARC 2018. In addition, IISD Reporting Services, will publish a summary report from this Conference on Saturday, 30 June 2018.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera
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Opening Plenary
Melodious a capella chorus by Miao and She singers from the cultural heritage bamboo forest areas of Yong’an and Yibin, China
Participants watched a video about BARC 2018
Zhang Jianlong, Administrator, China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA)
Lenin Moreno, President of Ecuador, addresses participants via a video message
Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia, delivers a speech via a video message
Shitaye Minale, Deputy Speaker of the House, Ethiopia
Hans Friederich, Director-General, International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR)
Hao Mingjin, Standing Committee, China National People’s Congress
Rubén Flores, Chair, INBAR Board of Trustees
Rubén Flores (right), Chair, INBAR Board of Trustees, presented Jiang Zehui (left), Chair, BARC Organizing Committee, with a lifetime achievement award.
Jiang Zehui, Chair, BARC Organizing Committee
Ministerial Summit
Rubén Flores, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Ecuador
William J.C. Hutchinson, Minister Without Portfolio, Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Jamaica
Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Minister of Forestry, Nepal
Nicolas Rossellini, UN Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in China
Zhang Jianlong, Administrator, NFGA
Jiang Zehui, Co-Chair, INBAR Board of Trustees
Achim Steiner, Administrator, UN Development Programme (UNDP)
Graziano da Silva, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
The dais during the panel discussion
Ibrahim Jibril, Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria
Benito Owusu-Bio, Ministry of Land and Natural Resources, Ghana
Nonita Caguioa, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippines
Yamil Sanchez, Ministry of the Environment, Panama
Mary Goretti Kitutu Kimono, Minister of State, Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda
Mark Halle, INBAR Board of Trustees
Signing Ceremony
Charlotte Salford, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and Hans Friederich, INBAR Director-General
Hans Friederich, INBAR Director-General, and Gerhard Dieterle, Executive Director, International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)
High-Level Dialogue on South-South Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative
Charlotte Salford, IFAD
Jiang Xiandong, Party Secretary of Yong’an City, China
The dais during the panel discussion
Gunter Pauli, the Club of Rome
Cynthia Villar, Senator and Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, the Philippines
Jenny Kim’s presentation of GGGI’s work in urban transformation
Jenny Kim, Deputy Director General, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)
Paul van de Logt, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands
Dessima Williams, former UN Special Adviser for Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, Grenada
Francois Martel, Secretary General of the Pacific Island Development Forum, Fiji, and Charlotte Salford, IFAD
Parallel Session on Exploring Guadua's Potential in the Andean Region
Pablo Jácome, Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, INBAR
Hans Friederich, Director-General, INBAR
Rubén Flores, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Ecuador
A slide from Rubén Flores’ presentation
Gustavo Mostajo Ocala, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Peru
A slide from Gustavo Mostajo Ocala’s presentation
Jorge Augusto Montoya, Guadua Federation of Colombia (FEDEGUADUA)
A slide from Jorge Augusto Montoya’s presentation
Parallel Session on ‘B&R4B&R’: Bamboo and Rattan for Belt and Road
Fang Li, China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), and Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China
Li Ling, FAO
Neville Ash, Director, UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC)
L-R: Wang Binbin, UN Office for South-South Cooperation; Ponika Chan, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Cambodia; Xie Chen, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China; Zhang Yang, China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center/China Center for SCO Envrionmental Cooperation; Agena Anjulo, Ethiopian Environment and Forest Research Institute; and Winston Chow, GGGI
Participants during the session
Parallel Session on Evaluating Africa’s Natural Capital
Ruud Jansen, Executive Secretary of the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa (GDSA)
Shitaye Minale, Deputy Speaker of the House, Ethiopia
Ibrahim Usman Jibril, Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Environment, Nigeria
Mary Goretti Kitutu Kimono, Minister of State, Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda
MoU Signing Ceremony between INBAR and GDSA
Hans Friederich, Director-General, INBAR, and Ruud Jansen, GDSA Executive Secretary
Participants listen to panelists
Around the Venue
