China-California climate change cooperation offers new endeavor to tackle climate change

Cooperation between China and California is a concrete manifestation of inclusive multilateralism in the global endeavor to cope with the climate crisis, China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment said.

China attaches great importance to the issue of climate change, which is an urgent challenge faced by all of humanity, and has been actively and constructively participating in international climate cooperation, the ministry said in a statement responding to questions from China Daily.

"Together with all parties, we seek to promote the establishment of a fair, equitable, cooperative, and win-win global climate governance system," it said.

The statement said California was a pioneer in climate action in the United States, and had "consistently placed great emphasis on addressing climate change and has taken a series of proactive policy measures and strong actions".

"China highly appreciates this," the ministry said.

Against that backdrop, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with California in April last year that aims to establish a flexible framework for cooperation in environmental protection, climate change mitigation and clean energy promotion, it said.

The ministry said the two sides had since carried out in-depth exchanges, especially on the construction of carbon trading markets, which covered topics such as the management of greenhouse gas emissions data and the allocation of emission allowances.

Thanks to the exchanges, they had managed to deepen their understanding of each other's carbon markets and gained instructive experiences, it added.

As an example of inclusive multilateralism in addressing the climate crisis, it said the climate cooperation between China and California provided a reference for regional governments to participate in and contribute to global collective climate action.

Such cooperation "can help mobilize even broader participation from regional governments, civil society, the private sector, and other stakeholders to take active climate actions, and creates an international cooperation atmosphere where all parties contribute to the best of their abilities", it said.

The statement said it could also help "promote the realization of the vision outlined in the Paris Agreement as early as possible".

The ministry pledged to make consistent efforts to advance cooperation with California in accordance with the memorandum of understanding's joint work plan.

On the basis of equity and mutual benefit, the ministry said it would further cooperate with California in a series of areas, including the control of short-lived heat-trapping gases and climate change and adaptation, to "make a joint contribution to the global efforts to tackle climate change".