Climate Governance: Shared responsibility, cooperation required

BEIJING, May 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn on China's climate governance:

On an ordinary August evening in 2021, Sihanoukville in Cambodia suddenly lit up. The light came from the 200 photovoltaic power generation system and 2,800 solar streetlights, which were provided by China for the establishment of the China-Cambodia Low-carbon Demonstration Zone Project.

"The green lighting devices from China have lit up Sihanoukville, helping Cambodia take a critical step in tackling climate change," said Chuop Paris, Director-General of the General Department of Environmental Knowledge and Information, Ministry of Environment in Cambodia.

This is just an epitome of China's climate cooperation with other countries. Last month, another batch of aid supplies for several South-South cooperation projects on climate change embarked on their journey, in which a large number of sets of photovoltaic power generation systems, mobile meteorological stations and multiple electric vehicles were included.

Speaking of climate cooperation and aid, one may wonder how's China's own climate governance is doing? Why is China so enthusiastic about cooperating with other countries in this regard?

Actually, affected by population and productivity among other factors, China is confronted with rather grave challenges. Despite that, a set of data can speak for themselves: as of 2021, China's natural reserves of all levels accounted for 18% of China's territory; its carbon intensity was down by 3.8% compared to 2020, with a total decrease of 50.8% since 2005; its renewable energy power generation has reached 2.48 trillion kWh, covering 29.8% of the whole society's electricity consumption. All these figures were backed up by China's ever-renewing governance philosophies, targeted action plans and timely implementation.

One country's efforts are after all minute. Maybe what China has done is merely a drop in the bucket for such a far-reaching global agenda. Therefore, China has placed "building a strong sense of common community" at the forefront of its new ideas when it comes to coping with climate change challenges. It proposed that "human beings share a common future in the face of the challenges presented by global climate change," and calls for strengthened solidarity and cooperation.

With that in mind, China's leadership have attended multiple climate-themed conferences and proposed ideas like the "dual carbon" goals and "a community of life for man and nature"; China has actively participated in international climate negotiations, leading and promoting the signing of important multilateral instruments including the Paris Agreement. It cooperates with countries and regions such as Japan, Germany, European Union and ASEAN to drive energy transition, clean energy cooperation and so on. It has set aside over 1.2 billion RMB for South-South cooperation on climate change to build low-carbon-exemplary zones and carry out capacity training, etc.

Now let's look back at the previous questions. China is clearly aware of the impact of climate change - which is not confined to only one country or region; all countries will suffer if we carry on business-as-usual, and it is just a matter of time. Reversely put, efforts made by only one country or a few countries won't stop the pace of climate change.

Because of the care for the common future of all humanity, China has spared no efforts on the journey of climate governance.

China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm 
Climate Governance: Shared responsibility, cooperation required
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-05/25/content_85593679.htm

SOURCE China.org.cn