China sends clear signal to climate change summit

BEIJING, Dec. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by China.org.cn on China's attitude towards tackling climate change:

Despite significant setbacks, the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) finally opened in Madrid, Spain. This is the final COP before the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Last year's unsolved problem, terms of Article 6 of Paris Agreement, is being negotiated on the conference. However, overshadowing the proceedings is the United States, which began its formal withdrawal from the agreement just one month ago.

With all of these challenges, it won't be easy for nations to come to an agreement at the conference. However, people around the world have pinned their hopes on China. Not long ago, a Spanish media outlet released an article, saying that China's attitude is one of the main factors that will determine whether COP 25 can succeed, and whether the Paris Agreement can survive.

Through concrete actions, China has clearly shown its attitude and achievements on addressing climate change and governing the environment.

Recently, CNN reported that China's raft of clean air policies saved hundreds of thousands of lives in 2017 alone. It's noteworthy that just a few years ago, smog-affected days were jokingly referred to as the "special scenery" of some Chinese provinces. However, today, the number of smoggy days has declined dramatically.

At the beginning of the year, the U.S. space agency NASA released data collected via satellite. It showed that from the early 21st century to today, the world's green coverage had increased by 5%, of which, one fourth was contributed by China.

According to related reports, China's carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2018 dropped by 45.8% compared to 2005, with non-fossil fuels accounting for 14.3% of total energy consumption.

In recent years, China has been committed to phasing out outdated production capacity, launching new regulations on industrial emissions, accelerating investment in and use of clean energies, and promoting the establishment of a national carbon trading market. So far, China's achievements have proven that its actions are effective. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recognized that China is making efforts to implement its Paris Agreement commitments ahead of time.

What's noteworthy is that China is a developing country with a population of nearly 1.4 billion, and that it's known as the "factory of the world," and enjoys rich natural reserves of coal. These factors make it even more obvious how determined and hard-working the country is to tackle climate change.

Tackling climate change concerns a wide range of issues, such as funding, technologies, commercial interests and the development phase of a country. Therefore, there is a huge divide between developed and developing countries. Right now, we have reached a crucial and hard time. What China is trying to tell the world is clear: It will spare no effort to fulfill its due obligations, and it will promote global action to protect the planet through effective multilateralism. China hopes all countries can work towards the same goal, and share weal and woe.

China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm

China sends clear signal to climate change summit
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2019-12/12/content_75505414.htm

SOURCE China.org.cn