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Ambassador WU Ken gave an opening speech at the online event "China and the EU - new alliances for climate actions?"
2020-10-06 23:59

On October 6, ambassador WU Ken was invited to the online event “China and the EU - new alliances for climate actions?” held by the Federal Foreign Office and the German Energy Agency. He gave an opening speech after the introductory remarks by Niels Annen, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office. This event was attended by various of representatives from the EU Institutions, Germany and China as well as climate experts.

Here’s Ambassador WU’s full speech:

Minister of State Annen,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It’s my pleasure to have this opportunity to open this event on climate change with Minister of State Annen.

Global climate change tells us once again that humans and nature belong to a community of shared future. What hurts nature hurts humans. No country or individual is immune to this global challenge, and we need to work together to deal with it.

China attaches great importance to addressing climate change. This is not only the internal needs to achieve sustainable development, but also a responsibility to build the community with a shared future for mankind.

--We have integrated the climate change efforts into our basic national policies. In 2007, the Chinese government formulated the National Climate Change Programme. Since 2008, China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change has been issued each year. Concrete goals and means have been determined in each five-year plan, and they have been implemented.

--We decide to take the path of green and low-carbon development. China has applied the new philosophy of green, environment-friendly and sustainable development. In the past, the attention was paid to high GDP growth, but now we focus on achieving high-quality development based on the harmony between man and nature.

--We have taken practical means to reduce emissions. In the INDC, China pledges, by 2030, to reduce CO2 per unit of GDP by 60-65% over the 2005 level, raise the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to about 20%.

--We strongly promote the energy transformation. On one hand, the pilot carbon markets in seven provinces and cities including Beijing and Shanghai have been established since 2011. On the other hand, China has invested a lot in renewable energy. China ranks first in installed capacity of wind energy and solar PV. We have about 50 percent of new energy cars worldwide.

--We have played a positive role in tackling climate change. China is a major contributor to the Paris Agreement. At the same time, as the world's largest developing country, China established the South-South Cooperation Fund on Climate Change to provide 20 billion RMB to help developing countries adapt to climate change and foster clean energy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping made a statement at the latest session of the UN General Assembly. He stressed that the Paris Agreement charts the course for the world to transition to green and low-carbon development, and all countries must take decisive steps to honor this Agreement. China will scale up its INDC. We aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. This has shown once again China’s role as a responsible major country in addressing climate change.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Europe and Germany are the pioneers of environmental protection and climate change initiatives. China is willing to learn from advanced concepts and experience. Since the twenty-first century, China and Germany have continuously fostered cooperation in the field of climate change. In 2009, the two sides established a climate change working group and implemented a large number of successful projects. During the third inter-government consultation in 2014, we decided to deepen cooperation in climate change by setting even higher goals. Now, China, Germany and the European Union all regard the Paris Agreement as a vital part of protecting multilateral values and global governance .

From every perspective, addressing climate change is one of the most promising areas of cooperation between China, Germany and Europe. The leaders from three sides held a video conference three weeks ago and established a China-EU High Level Environment and Climate Dialogue and forged China-EU green partnership. I believe that this will provide new impetus to our cooperation in climate change.

Finally, I wish this event a complete success. Thank you!

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