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Interview: China very active, constructive in Paris climate change talks: former UN climate official

Xinhua, December 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

China has been very active and constructive in the ongoing climate change negotiations here, former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Yvo de Boer told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

Stressing that the current COP21 had to be a growth opportunity for developing countries, de Boer said: "For many developing countries, priority number one is still economic growth and poverty eradication."

But for China, "changing the mode of economic growth and making economic growth greener, is very much a top priority today," said de Boer, who is now director general of the Global Green Growth Institute.

"What is happening at this conference (COP21) is in line with that objective," he added.

In line with this, De Boer hailed China's South-South Cooperation Fund on Climate Change which aims to help other developing countries cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the effects of global warming.

"It is a sign that the position of China on the international landscape is changing, that China is contributing very actively to helping other countries to engage on climate change," de Boer told Xinhua.

De Boer also believed the Paris conference would be a success given that "the scientific understanding of the issue is much stronger," and countries "recognize the model of economic growth needs to change fundamentally."

As for how things were progressing at the climate talks: "We had more than 150 leaders here on the first day. So that's a sign of universal political commitment," he said, adding that receiving action plans from 185 countries was "a sign of willingness to act by nearly all the nations of the world."

However, according to him, there were still financing challenges and questions about the practical implementation of the action plans.

Speaking of his expectations of the outcome, de Boer thought the Paris agreement would be very "practical."

"I hope that this conference will also agree that every five years we need to review whether action is actually being taken," he expressed, echoing the joint statement of Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Francois Hollande at the beginning of November in Beijing, who also called for a five-year review. Endit