The Ecological Civilization Forum of the ongoing 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) kicked off on Thursday in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The forum focuses on severe challenges facing the global ecological environment, shares valuable experience of global ecological environment governance and upholds the philosophy of ecological civilization, said Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu at the opening ceremony.

"Earth is the shared and only home of mankind. At this forum, we will join hands and work toward building a community of all life on Earth and a beautiful and harmonious world," said Huang.

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said when addressing the opening ceremony that "How we collectively address the biodiversity crisis will clearly determine our future."

"We must bring nature into decision-making at all levels and account for it as a long-term sustainability priority," she said.

China has actively participated in global environmental governance in face of ecological and environmental challenges.

It was announced Tuesday that the country will take the lead by investing 1.5 billion yuan (about 233 million U.S. dollars) to establish a Kunming Biodiversity Fund to support biodiversity protection in developing countries.

The country also aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

The forum, which will last until Friday, has seven sub-forums focusing on topics such as mainstreaming ecological civilization and biodiversity conservation.