 Distinguished hosts in Kunming. Distinguished participants, dear friends all over the world. I'm so grateful for this chance to join together to advance our shared vision of the global transformation that we all seek to inclusive and green pathways of development. Our vision recognizes humanity's intimate dependence on nature. It recognizes humanity's humble place, one player in the vast web of life, yet now an increasingly dominant and destructive player in a global system that is blind to the values of nature. Our vision recognizes the responsibility to conserve and restore biodiversity, both for the well-being of people and for the beauty, the mystery, and the power of nature itself. We face a very daunting challenge, perhaps the greatest in human history. Can we transform the system in time to a new civilization that harmonizes people and nature? People want to do so. Many leaders across the world want this transformation. Many people in ordinary lives like scientists, other public servants, people in finance, entrepreneurs want to support leaders in this transformation. And especially many producers making their livelihoods directly from ecosystems, they want this transformation. So how can we recognize and realize the values of nature and decision making? We actually have many models of success, but no one has yet solved this problem systemically at scale. So perhaps we can follow Confucius as a guide. He famously said, there are three pathways to wisdom. The first is through contemplation, and that is the noblest. The second is through imitation, and that is the easiest. The third is through experience, and that is the bitterest. So let's consider the noble pathway, contemplation. We all know we can no longer treat nature as free. And actually over the past couple of decades, a systematic approach has emerged in which nature is seen as a core engine of human development and a focus of investment. It involves two advances in knowledge. The first is just through ecosystem assessment, documenting the type, extent, condition, and change of ecosystems across countries, states and provinces, cities. And the second, based on ecosystem assessment and new science and technology, involves quantifying the flow of benefits from these ecosystems to people. Where, how much, and to whom does nature provide benefits today, and under alternative scenarios and policies for the future. Benefits such as in nutritional security, in mental and physical health, and many other forms of security like climate, water, energy, and especially livelihoods. And recognizing cultural dimensions, honoring ancient traditional and indigenous forms of understanding that actually are key to senses of attachment, belonging, beauty and spirit that we all value today. Second, we have the easiest pathway, imitation. This is the pathway by which we can realize the values of nature and decision making. In the 1990s, there were only a few cases. New York City, Cape Town stood out, Costa Rica, and then China at the end of the 1990s, advanced the most comprehensive and by far the largest payment system for ecosystem benefits, the grain to green program. But today, we can see the success of these early pioneering advances, there are hundreds of compelling demonstrations now that prove out the approach. And we can see powerful pathways from here to scaling success much further. These pathways involve three policy advances, specifically in planning in finance and in reporting in planning. Many countries are adopting plans and policies to protect critical ecosystems, upland forests for water supply, blood control, climate security, coastal main roads and coral reefs for protection of people and property. City parks, recognizing their crucial role in cooling cities, in physical and mental health of people, and general vitality of cities. China has zoned 50% of its land area for this kind of conservation, and is greatly increasing its investments in restoration. And many other countries are doing similar things. Second, in the financial arena, we need mechanisms that transform ecological benefits to society into near term economic benefits for ecosystem stewards. There are actually over 500 programs around the world, with over $40 billion in transactions each year. Conducting this, the next generation approaches are being pioneered today. And in China, the most advanced are in Lishui, Fujou, and Xinjiang. The local environment facility and multilateral development banks have absolutely crucial roles in driving mainstreaming. Third is reporting and tracking progress. The UN Statistical Commission recently approved a universal accounting framework and a new metric, gross ecosystem product or GEP. This is a high-level index for communicating benefits of nature to society, for guiding financial investments, and for evaluating policies and tracking progress. China's advancing GEP at scale, and since the UN approved GEP for global adoption in March, other countries are stepping forward, raising their hand for adoption. First among them are Colombia with support from the Inter-American Development Bank, Mongolia and Sri Lanka with support from the Asian Development Bank, and there are many others lining up. And time is now to make this systematic approach accessible and actionable by all across nations, communities, sectors, mainstreaming nature, and biodiversity, systematically into policy, planning, finance and practice. In closing, the world is really waking up. People see, people feel the existential risks and want to avoid the bitterest pathway. Together, we can enjoy human experience of reaching across cultures, of linking hands with purpose and commitment, opening a new platform, a new pathway for civilization. Our time is now, and there are many important roles for all of us. Thank you.