To achieve that, we must move beyond fragmented responses towards the adoption of systems that connect nature, people, and development all together.
 
With this in mind, let me share  a few key points, critical in advancing the type of interconnected solutions needed to push forward human development and the SDG at speed and scale.
 
First, strengthening coherence and collaboration among different priorities is essential. Climate, biodiversity, and land agendas, as well as socio-economic development agendas should reinforce rather than compete with one another. To this, environmental considerations must be embedded into development planning and financial decision-making.
 
This includes scaling successful pilot initiatives, strengthening capacity across governments, institutions, businesses, academia and local communities, and raising public awareness so that all of society can participate in the transition toward sustainability.
 
Second, the transformative potential of new technologies – including AI, offers significant potential when effectively directed towards addressing development challenges, while safeguarding for unintended consequences on people and the planet.
 
And finally, none of these efforts can be achieved without adequate, affordable funding. Closing the $700 billion annual funding gap[i] to protect and restore nature is an investment into an untapped driver for economic and human development. Estimates show that a nature-positive economy that fosters harmony between human and nature could generate over $10 trillion in annual business value and create 395 million jobs by 2030.
 
To this point, measuring national progress toward positive human-nature relationships – which is at the core of this year’s HDR - will be a critical addition to translate these considerations into evidence-based policy and more effective action.
 
Enhanced metrics can also support China’s development priorities, including building an Ecological Civilisation and achieving the dual carbon goals of 2030/2060.
 
China’s experience offers valuable insights for this global conversation.
 
UNDP has worked with the Chinese government for 46+ years since we opened our office here in Beijing in 1979. Environmental sustainability has consistently been a shared priority for our work at both national and sub-national levels.
 
Our cooperation has supported policy and legal frameworks across areas such as wetland conservation and national park protection, while also supporting China’s efforts in climate change mitigation and adaptation aligned with the dual carbon goals and forthcoming next generation of NDCs.
 
Building on the analytical foundations developed by HDRO, UNDP has also been working with national partners to contextualize the human development framework in China. Thank you for the collaboration.
 
Our upcoming report will introduce the Planetary-adjusted Human Development Index at the subnational level, offering new insights into how development gains interact with environmental pressures across different regions, strengthening the evidence base for more integrated SDG-oriented policies.
 
We look forward to exploring how the new metrics presented in this year’s HDR can be considered and potentially localized across China’s diverse regional contexts.
 
Today’s consultation is therefore not only about indicators and technical frameworks, but also about deepening partnerships, integrating knowledge across disciplines, and co-creating solutions that are scientifically robust, socially inclusive, and globally relevant.
 
I look forward to a productive and fruitful discussion. Thank you.

[i] https://www.weforum.org/publications/nature-finance-and-biodiversity-credits-a-private-sector-roadmap-to-finance-and-act-on-nature/