•China has been promoting cooperation on climate change under the Belt and Road Initiative framework.
•Ding tabled a three-point proposal to achieve the foregoing. First is to practice multilateralism.
Image: Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping's Special Representative at COP28 Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on December 2 advocated for increasing renewable energy and accelerating green transformation in the fight against climate change.
Addressing the World Climate Action Summit at the ongoing 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Ding stressed that mankind shares a common destiny in the face of climate change, and all parties should strengthen their determination and capacity to jointly address it.
Ding tabled a three-point proposal to achieve the foregoing. First is to practice multilateralism, adhere to the goals and principles set out in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, enhance solidarity and cooperation, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
Second is accelerating green transformation, actively increasing the proportion of renewable energy, promote clean, low-carbon and efficient use of traditional energy, and accelerate the formation of green and low-carbon production methods and lifestyles.
Third is strengthening implementation and fully honouring the existing commitments. In particular, developed countries should effectively increase financial, technological and capacity building support to developing countries to turn vision into reality.
With total installed capacity of renewable energies reaching 1,213 gigawatts in 2022, China has become a global leader in utilizing green and low-carbon energy sources. Over the years, China has been promoting cooperation on climate change under the Belt and Road Initiative framework, providing support for other developing countries to better their abilities in dealing with climate change.
China has incorporated carbon emission reduction goals into the overall planning of economic and social development, and has pledged to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The country has become a major supplier of wind, solar power equipment and power batteries, driving down the cost of renewable energy usage, helping developing countries obtain clean, reliable and more affordable energy.
With total installed capacity of renewable energies reaching 1,213 gigawatts in 2022, China has become a global leader in utilizing green and low-carbon energy sources. The country has ranked first in the world for eight consecutive years in production and sales of new energy vehicles. By the end of June this year, the number of new energy vehicles nationwide in the country reached 16.2 million.
Speaking to Xinhua recently, COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber acknowledged the fact that China is a global leader in renewable energy expansion, and is a powerhouse that has the ability to triple renewable power generation globally. He also noted that China is key in the decarbonisation of the energy we use today, saying that more than three-quarters of the world's solar panels, around 60 percent of the world's wind turbines, and three-quarters of the lithium-ion batteries on this planet come from China. “China is not just making what the world needs for the energy transition, its industrial strength is also bringing down costs for every nation”, said Al Jaber.
Image: COURTESY
In addition, China is actively promoting international cooperation in addressing climate challenges and has been deeply engaged in South-South cooperation. According to a report by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, as of June the country had signed 46 memorandums of understanding on climate change with 39 developing countries, launched over 70 climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, and helped train more than 2,300 officials and technicians from over 120 developing countries.
According to a 2022 report on China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change published by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China has always attached great importance to tackling climate change, unremittingly pursuing green development and actively promoting a community of harmony between humanity and nature.
In 2020, China announced its goals of striving for carbon dioxide peaking before 2030 and striving to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Indeed, China’s active climate change response is based on not only its need to secure sustainable development but also its responsibility to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
In mitigating climate change, China has taken active measures to adjust the industrial structure, optimise the energy mix, promote energy conservation and efficiency, control the emissions of non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases, enhance the carbon sink capacity of ecosystems, increasing the synergy between reducing pollution and bringing down carbon emissions, and carry out pilots and demonstration projects.
China is willing to play an active role and work together with all parties in accordance with the principles of openness, transparency, extensive participation and consensus. The country is willing to turn COP28 into a success and contribute its wisdom and initiatives to building an equitable and reasonable global climate governance regime that is cooperative and beneficial to all.
Stephen Ndegwa is the Executive Director of South-South Dialogues, a Nairobi-based communications development think tank, and a PhD student at the United States International University-Africa