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

Bloomberg News:

My question is how do you expect the agreement to be reached at the Paris conference? What kind of influences will the U.S.-China Joint Announcement have on the agreement to be reach in Paris? What kind of agreement can we expect to see?

Xie Zhenhua:

We hope that the Paris conference can hammer out a legally binding agreement to implement the Convention and enhance the actions of each country. As I have mentioned, the agreement should be in line with basic rules of the Convention and principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, respective capabilities and fairness. The U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change has clarified that different national circumstances should be taken into consideration and the agreement at the Lima conference reflected that point and the above-mentioned principles. In addition, we need to factor the principles into elements of mitigation, adaptation, funding, available technology, capacity building, transparency, and action, and establish framework mechanisms. Under the framework, every country can take effective action. We hope the agreement not only sticks to the principles of the Convention but also factors them into all elements and implements them. However, right now, there is still some divergence on how to factor the principles into all the elements specifically during negotiations. I believe, as the negotiations proceed, each country will play a constructive role, take a more flexible attitude and reach a consensus in the final stage of the conference. The attendance of state leaders this time will give a political impulse into negotiations. With joint efforts from each state, I believe the conference will succeed and many problems will be resolved at the conference. Now, developing countries are mostly concerned about two points. First, whether the principles can be adhere to or not, and second, whether the pledges of funding and technological support from developed countries can be fulfilled. Those issues are key to the success of the conference and the agreement and also serve as the manifestation and basis of political trust. I believe those problems will be settled as the negotiations proceed. The state leaders of China and the United States issued their Joint Announcement on Climate Change November last year and September this year. The two announcements put forward measures on how to resolve the problems I have mentioned. The Joint Announcement last year helped break a deadlock at the Lima conference, which concluded with some real achievements. As China issued separate joint announcements with the United States, France, the EU, India and Brazil this year, we hope that all the governments, especially the efforts by the state leaders planning to attend the conference, can make outstanding and special contributions. The U.S.-China Joint Presidential Announcement on Climate Change has been highly commended by both sides and also the international community. Thank you.

Beijing TV Station:

My question is about energy saving in transportation, especially new-energy vehicles running on electricity. Many auto owners still have concerns over battery performance and charging as well as safety. What are the difficulties for promoting the new-energy vehicle at present? Are there any new measures to take in this respect?

Xie Zhenhua:

I mentioned earlier that energy saving, as one of the measures taken to deal with climate change, improves energy efficiency. One of the important measures is to save energy in the sectors of industry, construction, transportation and services so as to promote greater efficiency. As industrialization and urbanization go deeper, especially the proportion of urbanization that is now occurring in China, emissions in construction and transportation may increase. It is vital to use some new energy for energy saving as well as energy efficiency improvement in transportation and it plays an ever more important role in emission reduction. We will make great efforts in energy saving in construction and transportation during the process of urbanization, especially during the period of the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan." Energy saving in transportation involves the following aspects: First, public transport must grow rapidly. The development of public transport, subways and inter-city railways will help reduce emissions dramatically. Second, new-energy autos should be promoted. Now, sales of new-energy autos are growing very fast in China and some cities lead the world in electric car usage, which is a very good sign. However, more innovation is needed in technology related to electric auto batteries as the battery life needs to improve. Besides, there are some problems about the charging posts, which will be coordinated and resolved in the future plan. I believe measures on energy saving and energy efficiency, either technically or economically, are being taken not only in urban transport, but also in aviation and navigation. Thus, there is great potential in the transportation sector. Thank you.