Interview: China sees sincerity in ministers' climate consultations leading up to COP21: official

Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change affairs, told Xinhua on Tuesday that he's confident of reaching an accord eventually in tackling global warming after attending the two-day preparatory talks of ministers in Paris.

"It showed a very prospective meeting to accelerate steps toward an agreement," said Xie in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

Prior to the United Nation's Climate Change Conference (COP21) to be held in Paris in December, around 40 delegations, including about 30 ministers, took part in the Paris informal ministerial consultations on Monday and Tuesday.

"The atmosphere was upbeat and friendly. Many constructive suggestions were raised," Xie said. "We can feel that everyone was working hard to solve problems rather than making things more complicated."

Participants at the two-day meeting "discussed the overall balance of the agreement, its level of ambition and the degree of differentiation that should be retained in order to take into account the situation and levels of development of different UN member states", according to the French Foreign Ministry.

The second gathering was scheduled for Sept. 6-7 to discuss the financing of proposed policies to tackle climate change.

"If the COP21 reached an agreement eventually, it would be a great contribution, guiding all parties in cooperating on climate change and helping nations realize constructive transformation and upgrade their economies," added Xie.

Xie noted that the Chinese government, which has attached great importance to climate change, is responsible and ambitious.

"China has taken responsibility in tackling the global challenge, and China's solution established a successful example for the world," he said.

Xie emphasized that China's initiatives on climate change are driven by its domestic needs to ensure economic and ecological security.

"China's energy conservation, environmental protection and new energy industries have become the new economic growth point of the country," Xie said. "The annual output value has reached 360 million to 370 million yuan (about 58 million-60 million U.S. dollars), in addition to 30 million more jobs."

"If the government fulfilled its fresh pledges on fighting climate change, the job opportunities created in the environmental protection industry could be doubled by 2030," he added.

Already, 47 out of 195 countries to participate in the year-ending event have submitted their national contributions to curb green gas emissions. The list includes 28 member countries in the European bloc, China, the United States and Russia.

"To fight against climate change should be everyone's business," Xie said.

"On the way to the utmost target, however, different tasks should be shared between developed and developing countries. Otherwise, someone may just wait and see, while the others find it beyond their grasp," Xie explained. Endi