Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao brought hope and confidence to the world in its fight against climate change by attending the summit of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Saturday.

Yang, who had accompanied Wen during his visit on Thursday and Friday, said climate change profoundly affected mankind's existence and development, imposed a critical challenge to the world, and should be tackled by all countries jointly.

The Copenhagen conference was an important opportunity to boost international cooperation in combating climate change, Yang said.

Under the joint efforts of all parties, the conference yielded significant and positive fruits in three aspects, he said.

First, it firmly upheld the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" set by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

Second, it made a solid step forward in promoting developed countries' binding emissions cuts and developing countries' voluntary mitigation actions.

Third, it produced important consensus on the key issues of long-term global emissions cut targets, funding and technology support to developing countries, and transparency.

Yang said Premier Wen's attendance at the summit showed the Chinese government took a highly responsible attitude toward the Chinese people, all peoples in the world and mankind's future.

Over the last two days, Wen delivered an important speech to the summit, kept close contact with many parties, communicated and coordinated with them, overcame various difficulties, and guided action according to situation. He adopted a principled but flexible attitude, broke his back to move the climate talks forward on the right track, and played a pivotal role in the climate talks.

Wen's attendance contributed to the global fight against climate change mainly in three fields, Yang said.

First, abiding by principles, maintaining a foundation for cooperation

Yang said developing and developed countries were very different in their historical emissions responsibilities and current emissions levels, and in their basic national characteristics and development stages, therefore they should shoulder different responsibilities and obligations in fighting climate change.

According to Yang, Wen told the conference the international community must adhere to the following four principles to combat climate change.

First, maintaining the consistency of outcomes:

The outcome of this conference must stick to rather than obscure the basic principles enshrined in the Convention and the Protocol. It must follow rather than deviate from the mandate of the "Bali Roadmap." It should lock up rather than deny the consensus and progress already achieved in the negotiations.

Second, upholding the fairness of rules:

The principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" represents the core and bedrock of international cooperation on climate change and it must never be compromised. Developed countries must take the lead in making deep quantified emission cuts and provide financial and technological support to developing countries. Developing countries should, with the financial and technological support of developed countries, do what they can to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change in the light of their national conditions.

Third, paying attention to the practicality of the targets:

In tackling climate change, the world needed to take a long-term perspective, but more importantly, focus on the present. It was important to focus on achieving near-term and mid-term reduction targets, honoring the commitments already made and taking real action. One action was more useful than a dozen programs. The conference should give people hope by taking credible actions.

Fourth, ensure the effectiveness of institutions and mechanisms:

The international community should make concrete and effective institutional arrangements under the Convention to have developed countries honor their commitments, provide sustained and sufficient financial support to developing countries, speed up the transfer of climate-friendly technologies and effectively help developing countries strengthen their capacity in combating climate change.

Yang said Wen's propositions reflected developing countries' common stance. The propositions were reasonable and lawful, based on the present, faced the future, addressed all parties' interests, pointed out the direction for the climate conference when it was at the crossroads, effectively kept and boosted the talks, and won wide support and praise.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2009)