xi's moments
Home | Op-Ed Contributors

UN Climate Action Summit: China's contributions

By Shen Huan | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2019-09-27 13:29

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi addresses the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Conventions at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept 23, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

On Sept 23, 2019, the United Nations Climate Action Summit was held in New York. This was the third climate summit convened by the UN secretary-general following the 2009 and 2014 summits. In June this year, China issued a joint press communiqué with the French and UN secretary-general on the sidelines of the G20 Osaka Summit, expressing strong support for the UN Climate Action Summit and injecting positive political impetus into the summit. The attendance of China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the summit, in the capacity of President Xi Jinping's special representative, further showcased China's support for international climate cooperation, for the multilateral process, and for the work of the UN and its secretary-general.

Achievements of China's climate actions

China attaches great importance to addressing climate change. President Xi Jinping has stressed on numerous occasions that tackling climate change is not something that we are ordered to do, but something we want to do. It is the inherent requirement of China's sustainable development and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

China has incorporated mandatory targets for carbon intensity reduction, forest coverage rate and forest stock into its Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and disaggregated them into the plans for local governments for implementation. Up to 2018, carbon intensity had accumulatively decreased by 45.8 percent compared to 2005, basically reversing the trend of rapid growth in greenhouse gas emissions. Forest coverage rates reached 22.96 percent in 2018 and forest stock volume increased by 4.56 billion cubic meters compared to 2005. According to preliminary calculations, from 2016 to 2018, China's energy consumption per unit of GDP decreased by 11.35 percent, and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP dropped by 14.2 percent, over-fulfilling annual targets and laying a solid foundation for meeting the GHG emission reduction target set by the 13th Five-Year Plan and achieving China's nationally determined contributions by 2030.

China has actively sought low-carbon development. Six provinces and 81 cities have been designated as low-carbon pilots. Pilot projects have been carried out for low-carbon industrial parks, low-carbon towns and low-carbon communities. Near-zero carbon emission zone demonstration projects have been promoted. At present, 73 pilot provinces and cities have proposed peaking year targets based on preliminary research. All pilot provinces and cities have accelerated their pace in using low-carbon technologies to upgrade traditional industries, promoting green and low-carbon products, promoting the quality and efficiency of the local economy, and pursuing green development.

China has formulated the National Strategy of Climate Change Adaptation and taken active actions to adapt to climate change. Efforts have been made to strengthen infrastructure and major project risk management, improving monitoring, prewarning and emergency response for disasters, and scientifically plan for and build urban lifeline systems and ensure their operation. China has adjusted the layout of agricultural productivity, strengthened basic development of farmland, and vigorously promoted agricultural adaptation technologies. China has enhanced water resources protection and soil erosion control in an effort to build a water-saving society. China has made reasonable plans for maritime development activities and stepped up coastal ecological restoration and vegetation protection. China has beefed up forest operation and management to promote a virtuous cycle of grassland ecology, and strengthened ecological protection and governance. The Urban Action Plan of Climate Change Adaptation has been formulated, by which 28 cities are designated as climate-adaptive city pilots. In 2018, China co-founded the Commission on Global Adaptation and supported the establishment of the Global Adaptation Center China Office to actively promote international cooperation in climate adaptation.

Achievements of nature-based solutions under the leadership of China

At the invitation of the UN secretary-general, China and New Zealand co-led the Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) Coalition, with the technical support of the executive office of the secretary-general, UNEP, secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the special adviser to the UN secretary-general. Members of the coalition include Costa Rica, Fiji, Norway, Portugal, Tajikistan, Monaco, Iceland, Pakistan and Djibouti, as well as related international organizations, multilateral development banks, nongovernmental organizations, academia, the private sector and charity.

Under China's co-leadership, the coalition produced fruitful outcomes at the summit, including issuing the Nature-Based Climate Solutions Manifesto and a compendium of nature-based solution contributions. The manifesto articulates the direction of NBS' future work, including mainstreaming nature-based solutions within national governance, climate action and climate policy-related instruments, enhancing international cooperation, promoting the flow of more funds into NBS to realize its potential, and scaling-up nature-based solutions for mitigation, resilience and adaptation in key areas. The compendium gives a vivid explanation of the gist of nature-based solutions, and provides a more intuitive picture of the goals and actions of NBS and mobilizes all parties to join in promoting nature-based climate actions in their regions and sectors.

Nature-based solutions, in concept, is fully compatible with the ideas of "harmonious coexistence between human and nature", "green is as valuable as gold", "mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands are a life community" -- all important elements of Xi Jinping thought on ecological civilization. It is an area where China has already had practice and experience. Among the 180-plus initiatives and best practices collected globally and compiled in the compendium, there are quite a few Chinese contributions, including the ecological conservation redline, the river and lake chief system, and the BRI International Green Development Coalition, natural forest protection, afforestation and sustainable forest management, urban ecological restoration and climate-smart agriculture.

As early as 2009, China proposed the Carbon Sink Target in the National Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA), and kept this target in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submitted in 2015, proposing to increase the forest stock volume by about 4.5 billion cubic meters by 2030 compared to 2005 and putting forward the goal of "enhancing mechanisms and capacities to effectively defend against climate change risks in key areas such as agriculture, forestry and water resources, as well as in cities, coastal and ecologically vulnerable areas". To a large extent, the achievement of these goals needs the contribution of nature-based solutions. It can be expected that China will continue to strengthen the role of nature in its response to climate change, better understand nature's value, and maximize the role of nature in mitigation and adaptation.

Unite all parties to fulfill the obligations under the Paris climate agreement

At the UN Climate Action Summit and on several recent multilateral occasions, Chinese leaders have reaffirmed China's consistent stance of firmly supporting multilateralism and international climate cooperation. China calls on all parties to follow the principles and requirements of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto protocol and the Paris climate agreement, adhere to the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and implement their NDC in light of different national circumstances. In particular, developed countries are urged to honor and enhance their commitment to financial and technical assistance to developing countries, open up markets, and carry out practical technical cooperation, which are the basic requirements for mutual trust and important conditions for the full and effective implementation of the Paris climate agreement.

The Paris climate agreement has constituted a cooperation architecture where countries do their best, work together for win-win results, learn from each other and pursue common development, which conforms to the general direction of global development. This hard-won outcome needs to be upheld by all parties. China has been actively working with all parties to promote the effective implementation of the Paris climate agreement, urging those who have not yet ratified it to do so promptly so as to accede to it as a party. China respects the nationally determined contribution goals set by countries based on their responsibilities, national conditions and capabilities and works to promote the role of financial, technological and capability building support mechanisms under the Paris climate agreement. All parties need to pool political will, strengthen practical cooperation, accelerate and scale up global actions so as to achieve the goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 C above preindustrial levels, enhance global adaptation capabilities, and achieve the global long-term goals through revitalized multilateralism.

The Paris climate agreement is an important milestone in global climate governance. Although a climate package was reached at COP 24 in Katowice, the parties have not yet reached consensus on Article 6 implementation guidelines. As COP25 is just around the corner, it is expected that China will continue to play a constructive role and work with all parties to develop a set of fair, reasonable and effective Article 6 implementation guidelines that ensure environmental integrity.

In the NBS manifesto, a "group of friends for nature-based solutions" is encouraged to be established following the UN Climate Action Summit. Countries are also called upon to fully consider the potential of nature in climate mitigation and adaptation in their climate decision-making, take concrete action in related areas and deepen regional and international cooperation. The curtain has dropped, but hopefully the momentum gathered by the summit will continue and global climate action will be enhanced with the efforts of China and all the other parties, so as to fully and effectively implement the UNFCCC and the Paris climate agreement.

The author is an independent global observer.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.

Global Edition
BACK TO THE TOP
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349