SCIO briefing on China's Policies and Actions on Climate Change

China Daily:

The Paris conference is the focus of much public attention. Although the report has clearly stated China's position, we'd still like you to tell us about your expectations for the summit. As for the 2015 global agreement, what points should be reached? What is more, the revision of coal data was already released to the public at home, but recently some media keep on reporting it. So, there are doubts about whether the data have been underestimated. Could you please explain it?

Xie Zhenhua:

The United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, including the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), and the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The main purpose of the conference is to reach an agreement on strengthening the actions in response to climate change after 2020. Now, various countries have launched multiple rounds of negotiations focusing on the expected achievements of the Paris conference. I just came back from Paris recently, having attended the ministerial meeting of the conference of the Parties to the Convention. Judging by the preparatory meeting, the attitudes of all the countries are active and constructive, but there are still disputes, some of them important ones. We hope that the conference will achieve the following. First, 160 countries have now submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) to the secretariat of the Convention, although more countries need to do so. Overall, every country is taking action in response to global climate change, which is good progress.

Second, we hope that the outcome of this conference will be that, by adhering to and following the basic principles of the Convention, we can implement the basic principles of the Convention and strengthen global actions. We hope that a strong, ambitious, and legally binding agreement can be reached in Paris. However, we think that the basic principles of the Convention should be followed, and negotiations should proceed within the framework of the Convention, and eventually this result can be achieved. Actions in response to climate change should fully reflect the principle of fairness, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and the principal of respective capabilities that take each country's actual conditions into account. All the countries should reach a consensus accordingly, and this is a very important concern for us.

Besides, to make this conference successful and to ensure it reaches an agreement, political mutual trust must be established. The consensus achieved in past negotiations, conventions and protocols must be seriously implemented. Every country must honor the promises they have made, which is the basis and action needed to establish that political mutual trust. For example, the developed countries should take the lead in cutting emissions on a big scale according to requirements in the conventions and protocols, and provide financial and technical support for developing countries. IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) also suggested clearly that the developed countries should at least reduce emissions by 25 - 40 percent by 2020, compared to 1990. And the developed countries have promised they will provide financial support of US$100 billion per year for the developing countries before 2020, and will set up a technologies transfer mechanism. We hope these promises are implemented in order to ensure political mutual trust. We hope the outcome of the Paris conference can inspire or encourage or demand every country to transform their development approaches and lifestyles. And all of them should adopt the green and low-carbon fashion. What I mean is that every country wants to have development, but it must be coordinated with dealing with climate change. The only way is to realize the green and low-carbon development. If a consensus like this can be achieved in the agreement, the conference will be a milestone.

We hope this conference could be a success, and every country can do their best in this regard. The Chinese government has paid great attention to issues concerning climate change. We have made our promises and set our goals. Though they seemed difficult, it now appears that we have accomplished them. We have done a lot of work in the multilateral mechanism, and we will continue to make positive and constructive efforts in the whole negotiation. Our leaders, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, have attached importance to actions against climate change and they have exchanged ideas with leaders of other countries to push ahead with the whole multilateral process.

This year, China and the United States, China and France, China and India, China and Brazil, as well as China and Europe all issued their separate joint statements. These statements seek to find ways to resolve some significant differences before the Paris conference. It should be mentioned that the Chinese government has made positive and constructive efforts in the multilateral process. Besides, China has also strengthened its communications with other developing countries. Ministers from BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) have issued a joint statement, while the developing countries with similar stances also enhance their communications. In the G77 + China summit we have also strengthened the internal communication and coordination on issues concerning climate change. Now China has smooth communication channels with all the countries and blocs, and that significantly indicates that we have made positive and constructive efforts in the multilateral process.

In addition, it was mentioned just now that China's data about coal has increased a bit compared to the data published earlier. You should see it as the very clear indication that China is doing its best to deal with climate change issues and increase the transparency of its data. Now, the data is more precise. This is mainly because, due to the third economic census, we made further adjustments after reviewing new data from every aspect such as economy and energy areas. I think the adjustments are more truthful and more transparent. In the INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) that China has submitted, we have demonstrated and considered the possible adjustments on coal and energy data derived from the third economic census. So, the contents in the INDC will not be affected, and our promises will not be influenced either. We will seriously implement the INDC we have published. I believe, through our efforts, those goals can be achieved. Thank you.