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SCIO briefing on China's Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change (2018)

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Speakers:
Xie Zhenhua, China’s Special Representative on Climate Change

Li Gao, Director-General of Climate Change in the Ministry of Ecology and Environment

Chairperson:
Xi Yanchun, spokeswoman of the State Council Information Office

Date:
Nov. 26, 2018

Xi Yanchun:

Thank you, Mr. Xie. Now, the floor is open to questions. Please identify your media outlet before raising questions.

CCTV:

What are China's expectations for the upcoming Climate Change Conference in Poland? Thank you.

Xie Zhenhua:

We have the same expectations as the international community in general for the upcoming conference, and these can be summarized in three aspects.

First, the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 has taken effect. Now, the main task is to finish the negotiations on implementation guidelines so they can be adopted at the annual climate change conference in Katowice, Poland. Hopefully, we will establish a mechanism to ensure continuity in implementation of the Agreement.

Second, in accordance with the Agreement and the decisions taken at last year's conference, we will have a Talanoa Dialogue at this conference. Initially called a "facilitative dialogue", this gets its name from the Fijian language as it was proposed at the meeting last year in Fiji. During the dialogue, all parties should introduce the best practices they have been able to adopt to address climate change, and discuss their efforts and difficulties in implementation, so as to enhance understanding and strengthen cooperation among all parties concerned. The ultimate purpose of the dialogue is for countries to share their successful experiences to promote accelerated transformation in line with the green and low-carbon development mode.

Third, we must review the implementation of the pre-2020 commitments through the dialogue. For example, this entails examining what each country has done and how effective the measures are, and if the decisions adopted at the conference of all parties have been universally implemented. Another issue is that of capital accumulation. During the Copenhagen conference, developed countries pledged to provide US$100 billion per year to support climate action in developing countries by 2020. We hope the developed countries will take the lead in reducing emissions and that the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol will take effect. Meanwhile, we will review if developed countries have honored their commitments regarding that figure of US$100 billion in annual aid, so as to lay a foundation for further implementation of the Paris Agreement beyond 2020 and achievement of the long-term goal of addressing climate change.

Thank you.