The special program of China Central Radio and Television Corporation's "Global Action Initiative - 2022 Global Development in Action" entered the second day on the 16th, and important members of international organizations such as Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, and Elizabeth Murema, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, affirmed China's achievements in the field of sustainable development and China's international role.
Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), praised China's efforts in protecting biodiversity and restoring ecosystems, and affirmed China's leading role in the international community. Steiner said that when China protects biodiversity, restores ecosystems and solves deforestation in its own national development plan, it not only contributes to the sustainable development path of the local community, but also has a positive impact on biodiversity, species loss and carbon emissions at the international level.
Steiner said that at present, the world has not done enough to promote sustainable development, the earth's ecological environment has been seriously damaged, and biodiversity and ecosystems are being lost. Steiner said that China has a 40-year cooperative relationship with the United Nations Development Programme and is a partner of many developing countries, and while responding to the Global Development Initiative, it is also using the cooperative relationship to drive the development and green transformation of other developing countries, and plays an important role in international cooperation.
Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, spoke about China's great achievements in poverty alleviation in the special program. She said that China's ability to achieve the poverty alleviation goal of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), poverty alleviation is the first goal of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, and the United Nations tries to share China's practical experience around the world. Amina Mohammed said that China's efforts to lift people out of poverty through education and the provision of nutritious food are the most valuable lessons for the international community on how China helps families struggling at the poverty line on a large scale and provides them with opportunities.
Elizabeth Murema, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said in a special program that China's current work in protecting biodiversity far exceeds the world average, and the global goal of biodiversity conservation is to cover 17% of terrestrial ecosystems and 10% of marine ecosystems in ecological reserves by 2020, but the global target has not reached the target in 2020, while China has expanded protected areas to 25% by 2020. Elizabeth Murema also used the example of pandas to affirm China's achievements in protecting endangered animals, and said that China has played an active role in wildlife management and the establishment of national nature reserves.
In addition, Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, China expert, international business strategist and author, Eric Solheim, Chairman of the International Institute for Green Development of the Belt and Road, Enrique Dussel Peters, Professor of the Graduate School of Economics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and Wu Changhua, CEO of the Beijing Future Innovation Center, also presented a show on the program to show a view of China's efforts in decarbonization, poverty alleviation, clean energy transition, Views were shared on successes in biodiversity conservation and food security.
Commenting on China's achievements in poverty alleviation and green transformation, Eric Solheim, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and current chairman of the International Institute for Green Development along the Belt and Road, said that China's lifting one billion people out of extreme poverty in the past 40 years is an amazing achievement, and China has always occupied a leading position in green transformation, whether it is solar or hydroelectric technology. Solheim said that the Chinese government has noticed the importance of controlling pollution and the transition to a green economy, and has made great changes in environmental protection, and green development as a priority of China's Belt and Road Initiative also provides opportunities for the world to learn from each other.
Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, China expert, international business strategist and author, shared his views on China's multifaceted achievements. He said Chinese President Xi Jinping has made poverty alleviation a top priority, and by the end of 2020, China has eliminated absolute poverty. Speaking about China's environmental governance work and China's balanced development in economic development and ecological protection, Kuhn said that Xi Jinping has put forward "innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing" - five major development concepts, listing environmental issues as key factors in development, and China has now undergone earth-shaking changes in environmental protection implementation compared with the past, whether it is punitive measures for environmental pollution or models for dealing with problems.
Kuhn said there is a natural tension between economic development and environmental pollution, and the Chinese government's interesting and fruitful test in balancing the two factors, such as ecological compensation mechanisms, where the government invests in environmentally friendly enterprises that not only help rural areas escape poverty but also protect the environment, and such new concepts have promoted China's environmental protection and economic development.
Wu Changhua, CEO of the Beijing Future Innovation Center, said that decarbonization is already an important issue and a priority for the Chinese government, and in order to ensure that China achieves the goal of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, China has put the 14th Five-Year Plan on the agenda, and a set of national development plans between 2021 and 2025 will ensure that China completes this systemic change and transition within a limited time.
Enrique Dussel Peters, a professor at the Graduate School of Economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said in a special program that countries around the world can learn a lot from the experience of the past 40 to 50 years since China's reform and opening up, and for countries such as Latin America and Mexico, China's achievements in eradicating extreme poverty are crucial experiences.
Peters said that China has played a very positive role in the international community through the concept of globalization process with Chinese characteristics, China's investment in Latin America and the Caribbean has exceeded 172 billion US dollars, created nearly 600,000 jobs, and half of China's foreign investment in the energy sector has gone to non-fossil energy including wind energy, as well as solar energy, hydroelectric power plants, etc., making them an important source of energy for all countries, which is the Global Development Initiative Proof that merging with China's Belt and Road Initiative can have a positive effect. Peters also cited the Beijing Olympics and the Winter Olympics as examples of China's practical achievements and international exemplary role in promoting clean energy through major sports events. (CCTV reporter Liu Xiaoqian)
Source: CCTV News Client