International Observation: China's Plan to Promote Global Green, Low Carbon Transformation, Green | Development | Global

Climate change and green development are closely related to the long-term survival and development of humanity, and are the key to harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. Chinese and foreign experts said that, driven by China's plans to jointly build the "the Belt and Road" initiative, the Global Development Initiative and other initiatives, China is constantly taking action to lead countries to build consensus, take the initiative to address the serious challenges of climate change, and help the global green development cause to make positive progress.

Global high temperatures highlight urgent climate issues

Recently, many parts of the world have experienced high temperatures. According to the forecast of the World Meteorological Organization, there is a 66% chance that the global average temperature will increase by 1.5 ℃ compared to before the Industrial Revolution for at least one year from 2023 to 2027.

Researcher Chen Ying, Deputy Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stated that the challenge of global climate change to human society is becoming increasingly severe, and many parts of the world are experiencing record breaking extreme weather and climate events such as high temperatures and droughts.

Chen Ying pointed out that green and low-carbon transformation has become an international consensus. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, international climate governance has been moving forward in difficult times. In 2021, the Glasgow Climate Conference completed negotiations on the implementation details of the Paris Agreement and entered the stage of full compliance. On the new track of global carbon neutrality, countries are exploring green and low-carbon development paths that are in line with their own national conditions.

On July 8th, people played with water at a fountain in Frankfurt, Germany. Recently, Frankfurt, Germany has gradually ushered in hot summer weather. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Fan

Global development is facing a "headwind"

Faced with unprecedented global growth challenges and development challenges, some countries politicize and marginalize development issues, and even advocate for decoupling and risk reduction. Wang Luo, Director of the International Development Cooperation Research Institute of the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, believes that such statements are intended to divide the camp of developing countries, hinder the cohesion of countries, and have a negative impact on the cause of international development cooperation.

Wang Luo said that with the rapid development of globalization, China's development has deeply integrated with the world economy, providing valuable development experiences for other developing countries to learn from. It is neither advisable nor possible to reverse the trend of decoupling and breaking the chain. At a critical moment when major development challenges such as food security and climate change overlap, it is even more necessary for developed and developing countries to work together and focus more resources on development issues.

Chen Ying stated that in the face of global climate governance challenges, international cooperation is a necessary path, but international competition and major power games around key zero carbon technologies, key metal minerals, and other aspects are becoming increasingly fierce. Some Western countries have set up green trade barriers, organized international climate clubs outside the main channels of the climate convention, implemented unilateral punitive measures, undermined international political trust in addressing climate change globally, and hindered the international climate process.

China's development leads the world in green cooperation

At the sub forum on "Climate Change and Green Development" of the first high-level meeting of the Global Shared Development Action Forum held on July 10th, Deng Boqing, Deputy Director of the National Agency for International Development Cooperation, stated that China is an important participant, contributor, and leader in addressing global climate change and promoting global ecological civilization construction.

"While promoting its own economic and social development and achieving green transformation, China continues to promote international exchanges and cooperation on green development within the framework of South South cooperation, making historic contributions to the global climate governance process. Climate change and green development have become important areas of cooperation in global development initiatives, injecting new impetus into the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and providing new development models for global ecological civilization construction," Deng Boqing said.

With the joint efforts of the whole society, China's national energy consumption intensity has cumulatively decreased by 26.4% in the past decade. From 2012 to 2022, China supported an average annual economic growth rate of 6.2% with an average energy consumption growth rate of 3%. The cumulative energy consumption intensity decreased by 26.4%, which is equivalent to using approximately 1.41 billion tons of standard coal less and emitting nearly 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide less. Deng Zhou, Director of the Industrial Development Research Office of the Institute of Industrial Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stated that focusing on improving the level of industrial greening is one of the major directions for industrial upgrading. To enhance international competitiveness and achieve the "dual carbon" goals, it is necessary to vigorously develop the green economy.

In September 2021, China announced at the 76th United Nations General Assembly that it will no longer build new overseas coal-fired power projects and will actively promote and support the green and low-carbon development of energy in developing countries. At the Global Development High Level Dialogue held in June 2022, "climate change and green development" became one of the eight important areas for China to engage in practical cooperation with international partners, especially developing countries.

On March 9, 2021, the Three Gorges Fuqing Xinghua Bay offshore wind farm. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Shan

Chen Ying believes that promoting the transformation of green and low-carbon development is an inherent demand for sustainable development in China. Domestic and foreign actions have inherent consistency, international cooperation serves domestic transformation, and domestic actions support international governance. The two should be promoted in a coordinated manner. While China is doing a good job in its own green transformation, it actively promotes international cooperation on climate and green development, dares to shoulder the historical mission of leading the global carbon neutrality process, and has carried out a lot of work.

During his attendance at the first high-level meeting of the Global Forum on Shared Development, Maldives Foreign Secretary Ahmed Latif expressed appreciation for China's firm commitment to addressing climate change and achieving green development. He pointed out that Maldives supports the Global Development Initiative, which brings new opportunities for cooperation among countries around the world, especially developing countries, and helps accelerate the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.