Source: China News Network
Video: The side event of the United Nations Climate Change Conference "Ecological Civilization and Beautiful China Practice" was held, and China's green development was praised Source: CCTV Synthesis
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 14 (ECITH) -- On November 12, local time, the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) "Ecological Civilization and Beautiful China Practice Side Meeting" was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The side event was co-sponsored by Xi Jinping Research Center for Ecological Civilization Thought/Environmental Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China News Service, and hosted by China News Network.
Xie Zhenhua, Special Representative of President Xi Jinping and China's Special Envoy for Climate Change Affairs, attended the "Ecological Civilization and Beautiful China Practice Side Meeting" and delivered a speech. Photo by reporter Peng Dawei
Xie Zhenhua, Special Representative of President Xi Jinping and China's Special Envoy for Climate Change, said in his speech that over the past decade, China has become an important participant, contributor and leader in the global climate governance process, and the green and low-carbon transformation has achieved remarkable results. President Xi Jinping has repeatedly pointed out that addressing climate change is an intrinsic requirement of China's sustainable development and an international obligation that a responsible major country should fulfill.
"Although many developed countries are affected by geopolitical conflicts and energy crises, and climate action has rebounded, China still adheres to the strategic determination to actively address climate change in accordance with President Xi Jinping's requirements, and we must overcome a series of difficulties to promote carbon peaking and carbon neutrality." Xie Zhenhua said that China's climate policy has also been further strengthened in the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and the 20th National Congress has also made clear arrangements for China's future promotion of climate action and global governance.
Zhao Yingmin, head of China's climate change negotiation delegation and vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said in a written speech that over the past decade, President Xi Jinping has stood at the height of the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, incorporated the construction of ecological civilization into the overall layout of the "five-in-one" cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, vigorously promoted the innovation of ecological civilization theory, practice and system, and formed a systematic and scientific Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. President Xi Jinping has put forward a series of new concepts, ideas and strategies with Chinese characteristics and leading the trend of the times, providing fundamental guidelines for China's ecological civilization construction.
Zhao Yingmin said that China has always been an activist and doer who actively responds to climate change. China always believes that only when the world is good can China be good; If China is good, the world will be better. As a responsible major country, China will continue to uphold the concept of ecological civilization and move forward towards the goal of building a beautiful China. This is not only China's own business, but also a contribution to the world.
The picture shows the guests watching the opening film of the side event. Photo by reporter Chen Tianhao
Eric Solheim, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Executive Director of UNEP, and Tim Yeao, former Chairman of the Special Committee on Energy and Climate Change of the House of Commons of the British Parliament, delivered video speeches, highly praising China's practical actions in addressing climate change.
Eric Solheim said that China has resolutely won the battle against pollution, and at the same time actively responded to climate change, which has restored the beauty of mountains and rivers to their former glory. China is already leading the way in green practices to better protect the natural environment. China has established ecological redlines, a great system for protecting wetlands and urban ecosystems.
Tim Yeo said that China now accounts for almost 40% of the world's wind power capacity and more than 33% of the world's solar power capacity, which is a good example for other countries to follow. With more than half of the world's electric fuel cells and hybrid vehicles currently in China, the shift to electric vehicles would bring benefits to the world by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, particularly by improving air quality in many large cities that would bring direct health benefits to billions of people.
In the keynote speech, Qian Yong, director of the Xi Jinping Research Center for Ecological Civilization Thought and director of the Environmental and Economic Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, pointed out that looking back on the past decade, China has created an ecological miracle and a miracle of green development that have attracted worldwide attention. The city's air quality has improved the fastest, the water quality of major rivers is close to the level of developed countries, and the construction of a beautiful China has made great strides. With blue sky, green mountains, and clear water, townspeople push their windows to see the green, go out to see the scenery, and fully enjoy the beauty and gifts of nature.
Zhang Mingxin, editor-in-chief of China News Service, said that since Beautiful China was proposed ten years ago, China has coordinated economic development and ecological environmental protection, and the construction of ecological civilization has undergone historic, turning and overall changes. By making every effort to defend the blue sky, clear water and pure land, it has not only solved a large number of prominent ecological and environmental problems related to people's livelihood, but also made the concepts of green development and ecological civilization increasingly deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. On the road of ecological civilization construction and promoting development transformation, China has been at the forefront of the world.
Sun Zhen, a first-level inspector of the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that China regards climate change as a national strategy and runs a systematic concept through the whole process of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. In particular, he mentioned that China's carbon market is beginning to bear fruit. After the construction and operation of the first compliance cycle, the national carbon market has established a basic framework system, opened up all key processes, initially played the role of carbon price discovery mechanism, effectively enhanced the awareness and ability of enterprises to reduce greenhouse gases and accelerate green and low-carbon transformation, and achieved the expected goals.
The picture shows the scene of the "Ecological Civilization and Beautiful China Practice Side Meeting". Photo by reporter Peng Dawei
Warren Evans, Special Envoy for Climate at the Asian Development Bank, said that China has achieved remarkable results in mitigating and adapting to climate change, and it is also at the forefront of the world in using carbon pricing as a means of climate policy regulation.
Zou Ji, CEO and President of Energy Foundation China, believes that ecological civilization is actually China's highest national development strategy, an important part of the overall layout of economic, political, cultural, social and ecological civilization, and a basic feature of Chinese-style modernization.
In the roundtable discussion session, two foreign professors, Pan Weilian, an American professor from Xiamen University who has lived in China for many years, and Mahoney, a professor at the School of Politics and International Relations of East China Normal University, shared their own experiences with the journey of "beautiful China".
Pan Weilian was impressed by China's commitment to protecting the environment, saying that China's commitment to protecting the environment is the embodiment of Chinese ancient admiration for the symbiotic relationship between man and nature. China's promotion of ecological civilization, like the battle against poverty, is both top-down and bottom-up.
Mahoney said that the Chinese government listened carefully to the opinions of the masses and responded effectively, the air quality has improved significantly, cities such as Beijing have undergone amazing changes, and there are more green spaces and cleaner air in the city, which reflects China's determination to build an ecological civilization and its efforts to address climate change and contribute to global ecological well-being.
Long Di, Director of Asia and Chief Representative of the Beijing Representative Office, and Zhang Jianyu, Executive Director of the International Institute for Green Development of the Belt and Road, conducted in-depth discussions on the synergies between climate change and biodiversity conservation in China.
In Longdi's view, there is often a misunderstanding of China, and in fact, the international community does not know enough about the much that China is doing to improve the environment and reduce carbon emissions. The ecological civilization advocated by China is exactly the beautiful vision that all mankind should strive to pursue.
Special Envoy Xie Zhenhua presented a souvenir of "Idiomatic Dao" to COP20 President and former Peruvian Minister of the Environment, Vidal. Photo courtesy
In the side event case sharing session, Zhang Yali, Deputy Director of Shenzhen Ecology and Environment Bureau, shared Shenzhen's practice and exploration of building a beautiful city. She said that Shenzhen continues to explore the sustainable development and innovation of super-large cities and embark on a development path of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
Xu Yiyao, general manager of the international market of TBEA, said that the new energy industry is an important industry to achieve the optimization and adjustment of the national energy structure, provide green energy, and realize the harmonious development of man and nature, and is the main way and support for China to achieve the "dual carbon" goal.
Chai Fengfeng, vice president of the State Grid Energy Research Institute, pointed out that State Grid strives to be a "promoter", "pioneer" and "leader" of clean and low-carbon energy transformation, strengthen upstream and downstream cooperation in the industrial chain, strive to build an internationally leading new energy digital economy platform with Chinese characteristics, help build a new power system, and actively serve carbon peak and carbon neutrality.