“The planet is our only common home.”
This was stated by President Xi Jinping on December 12, in an important speech delivered at the Climate Ambition Summit, announcing a series of new nationally determined contribution measures:
By 2030, China’s CO2 emissions per unit of GDP will be reduced by more than 65% compared to 2005, fossil-free energy will be around 25% of primary energy consumption, forest stocks will increase by 6 million cubic meters in 2005, and the total installed capacity of wind and solar energy will exceed 1200 million kilowatts.
It is worth mentioning that on September 22 this year, President Xi announced two objective goals in the UN General Assembly: will strive to reach the peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality for 2060.
Large-scale emission reductions mean huge sacrifices in economic growth and other aspects. However, we have reason to believe that China will keep its promises: First, as President Xi pointed out, China always honors his words. Second, promoting a comprehensive ecological transformation of economic and social development is an inevitable requirement for China to enter a new stage of development, implement new development concepts, and promote high-quality development. Third, the country has the basis and experiences to implement the aforementioned contributions.
China has already met its 2020 climate action targets in anticipation and overcoming. The proportion of non-fossil energy in China’s total energy consumption has increased to 15.3%. Installed renewable energy capacity has accounted for 30% of the global total, representing 44% of the global increase, and the number of green vehicles has accounted for more than half of the world. Since 2000, a quarter of the new green areas worldwide have been contributed by Chinese territory.
The Climate Ambition Summit was convened by the United Nations and relevant countries to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. In his speech, President Xi also urged all countries to renew their union, ambition and confidence to embark on a new global response to climate change expedition.
It is currently accelerating the change in the international configuration, and the COVID-19 pandemic calls us to reflect on a background on the relationship between humanity and nature, and to pay more attention to the future of global climate governance. This gives us new opportunities to build together a clean and beautiful world and a community of destiny shared by humanity.
To that end, the Chinese side argues that the various countries should support the Paris Agreement to make greater contributions in response to climate change. It is essential to follow the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, to make the mayor of the efforts based on our respective national realities and capacities. Meanwhile, developed countries need to increase effective support to developing nations in terms of capital, technology and capacity building. The crystal clear waters and green mountains are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver. You need to encourage a green and low-carbon lifestyle and production, to look for new opportunities and driving force for the green development environment.
Ambassador of China to the Dominican Republic