Wang Yi: Partnership needed in climate fight

World leaders should work together to fight climate change, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday, as he reinforced China's commitment to sustainable development and to lead international cooperation.

"To jointly tackle this challenge and to protect the planet we all call home will be a journey critical to the future and destiny of mankind," Wang told world leaders at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative.

Wang suggested that the global community be determined to win the fight against climate change, be prepared to take sustained action and be committed to cooperation.

Stressing the importance of multilateralism, he urged nations to honor commitments in the 2015 Paris Agreement, adding that "the withdrawal of certain parties will not shake the collective will of the international community nor will it possibly reverse the historical trend of international cooperation".

US President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw from the Paris climate accord in June 2017. While he wasn't expected to attend, Trump showed up unexpectedly at the summit on Monday, and sat in briefly without making a speech.

Wang highlighted China's efforts in tackling the climate change issue at home.

In 2018, China's CO2 emissions per unit of GDP dropped by 45.8 percent — or a reduction of 5.26 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions — from the 2005 level, beating the annual target, he said.

Wang said that the share of non-fossil fuel in primary energy consumption reached 14.2 percent in China last year, and the forest stock increased by 4.56 billion cubic meters from 2005. Since 2000, China has contributed to a quarter of the world's newly forested land.

Last year, China saw an increase of 1.25 million new-energy vehicles, outnumbering those of many other countries in the world, he added.

China is also a leader in finding nature-based solutions for climate action and "unlocking" nature's full potential for mitigation and adaptation to deliver the Paris Agreement and carbon neutrality by 2050.

Wang said China has proposed 150 initiatives and compiled a list of more than 30 case studies in the area.

"Long and difficult as the journey of tacking climate change may be, sustained actions will take us to the destination," he said.

Full test of Wang Yi's Remarks at the UN Climate Action Summit