China's green practices 'Actions speak louder than words'

Actively participate in global governance to address climate change——

China's Green Practice 'Actions Speak Louder Than Words' (International Theory)

Reporter Li Jiabao

Recently, the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change concluded in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. During the conference, the Chinese delegation said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to addressing climate change and is willing to work with the international community to promote global climate governance. China's actions, propositions and contributions to addressing climate change have been widely praised by the international community.

"Leading the world"

Recently, during talks with the Chinese delegation to COP27, Simon Steele, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, highly appreciated China's firm position on climate change and its spirit of translating climate commitments into practical actions.

Eric Solheim, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Executive Director of UNEP, spoke highly of China's practical actions to address climate change at the side event on "Ecological Civilization and Beautiful China Practice" held at the COP27 China Corner. He said that China has resolutely won the battle against pollution, and at the same time actively responded to climate change, so that mountains and rivers have regained their former beauty. China is already leading the way in green practices and is better protecting the natural environment.

At COP27, China did not play "power politics" on climate change, but "actions speak louder than words" on climate change, and strengthened its consistent commitment to the international climate agenda since the Paris Agreement, according to the website of the American diplomat.

The website of the German "Beautiful Earth" organization recently published an article saying that China has vowed to achieve carbon peak and reduce per capita carbon emissions. Official data released in October showed that China was on track to achieve these goals. In 2021, China's coal consumption fell to 56.0%, CO2 emissions per unit of GDP were reduced by 3.8% compared to 2020, and 3.6 million hectares of forests were completed.

"China continues to step up its efforts to address climate change." The website of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an international environmental protection organization, recently listed a set of data: in 2021, China's carbon emission intensity fell by 50.8% compared with 2005; The proportion of non-fossil energy consumption has increased to 16.6%, and China continues to lead the world in clean energy investment. In 2020, China's forest stock exceeded 17.5 billion cubic meters and will reach 19 billion cubic meters by 2025.

"To address climate change, China's actions have exceeded its commitments." The Wall Street Journal of the United States said that China is a global leader in electric vehicle sales and renewable energy installations.

"Extensive environmental protection work"

On the occasion of COP27, China's policies related to climate change have sparked heated discussions in foreign media.

"China has carried out extensive environmental protection work." The website of the American Diplomat reports that environmental issues have been at the center of the core policy framework, such as important public speeches by Chinese leaders, China's legislation and five-year plan. The Chinese government has also invested in educating people not only about the need to combat climate change, but also about the fact that they can help as individuals.

A new study found that 38 cities in China have maintained economic and population growth for at least five years while still reducing greenhouse gas emissions - these cities are defined as "active peaking" cities, mainly through improving energy efficiency and optimizing the energy structure to achieve emission reduction.

The website of the French newspaper La Croix noted that the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China talked about China's achievements in environmental protection and promised to continue to implement policies to combat climate change. The report pointed out that in the past 10 years, China has vigorously grasped ecological and environmental problems and achieved success.

Bloomberg quoted Kerry Brown, a professor at King's College London, as saying that in the past 10 years, China has introduced new regulations that set extremely strict standards for factories and imposed restrictions on the use of cars and coal in large cities. These practices have paid off. Between 2013 and 2020, particulate pollution in China decreased by 40%. At the same time, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries produced by Chinese companies are sold all over the world.

This year, the Chinese government issued the National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change 2035, which makes overall plans for adaptation to climate change from now to 2035. Selwin Porter, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Action, said this is crucial for China and the world, and is a positive step towards building international cooperation and solidarity to effectively address the climate crisis.

Reuters recently noted that China has pledged high-tech support to address climate and environmental issues. The report pointed out that the Chinese government has issued a new action plan, the "14th Five-Year Plan" for scientific and technological innovation in the field of ecology and environment. China will seek high-tech solutions to its complex environmental challenges, and innovate in areas such as big data, biotechnology and artificial intelligence to address pollution, habitat loss and climate change.

"A key player in the fight against global warming"

As the largest developing country, China has taken concrete actions to address climate change and has become an important participant, contributor and leader in the global climate governance process.

Bloomberg reported that the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China promised that China would actively participate in global governance to address climate change. At the international level, China has become a key player in the fight against global warming.

Warren Evans, the Asian Development Bank's special climate envoy, said that China's work on climate change mitigation and adaptation has achieved remarkable results. Kevin Conrad, Executive Director of the Rainforest National Federation, said, "China's investment and development in the field of new energy is a good example and shows hope to the world. Egyptian Environment Minister Yasmin Fouad highly praised China's "dual carbon" goal and great efforts, and said that China's concept of "green water and green mountains are gold and silver mountains" is inspiring.

"China is an important partner in Germany's climate action." Jennifer Morgan, State Secretary at the Federal Foreign Office and Special Envoy for Climate Change, believes that it is extremely important to reduce fossil energy consumption and accelerate the development of renewable energy. She said that if Germany wants to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality in a short period of time, it needs to learn from China to promote the speed of implementing relevant policies and measures.

At the High-level Forum on South-South Cooperation on Climate Change held at COP27 in the China Corner, the Chinese representative pointed out that as a developing country, China is very willing to do its best to work with other developing countries to implement the Paris Agreement in the process of addressing climate change. Simon Steele praised the Chinese government's efforts in South-South cooperation: China has established the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme to support the recovery and reconstruction of many countries after extreme weather disasters.

The New York Times reported that developing countries are facing irreversible damage caused by climate change. China called on developed countries to provide more support to developing countries that suffered the most from the impacts of climate change.

According to the website of the German organization "Beautiful Earth", China provides funds to help developing countries cope with climate change through South-South cooperation projects. China has signed a number of project documents with Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Kiribati on South-South cooperation to address climate change, and has trained nearly 100 professionals in these countries to address climate change.

Source: People's Daily - People's Daily Overseas Edition