China’s role in COP21: striving for quality, making voice heard and daring to take actions

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of Paris climate change conference on Nov. 30. This is the first time that the head of state in China attends the climate change conference, whose full name is the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) and the 11st Conference of Parities on Kyoto Protocol. Reviewing the past more than two decades, a reporter from China Youth Network noticed that China is playing a big role in the UN climate change conference, featuring striving for quality, making voice heard and daring to take actions.

Striving for quality

President Xi Jinping mentioned when taking interview from Reuters, "The developed and developing countries bear different historical responsibilities and also have distinct demands and capabilities of development. It's like a car racing, in which some have got off earlier while some just start. It's improper and unfair to limit the speed with unified standards." China has always standing with the developing countries to strive for equality and proper rights and interests.

At the opening ceremony of Paris climate change conference, President Xi mentioned again that the developed countries shall honor the commitment to aid the developing countries with 100 billion US dollars each year before 2020 as the climate funds. Meanwhile, President Xi also noted that to combat the climate change shall not hinder the proper demands of developing countries to reduce poverty and improve people's living standard.

Early as the 2009 Copenhagen climate change conference, Chinese government stressed that the developing countries should not take the old path of developed countries' industrialization at the cost of resources and environment while the developed countries should understand and support the developing countries and meet their commitments in financial and technological support.

Faced with global climate change, China, India, Brazil and South Africa reached consensus on jointly dealing with this issue.The four countries convened to exchange views and basic standpoints before the Copenhagen climate change conference, thus named BASIC. In the 2002 Doha conference, Mr. Su Wei, director of the NDRC Climate Change Department of China and deputy head of the China delegation, spoke on behalf of the BASIC. He noted that the developing countries are facing pressing challenges of sustainable development and poverty reduction, but strong and powerful actions have been taken. "The developing countries have made greater contributions to slowing climate change than the developed counterparts, while the latter should shoulder more historical responsibilities and take the lead to combat climate change. We urge the developed parties to honor commitments to increase carbon emission cuts and support the developing countries by providing supports in funds, transfer of technology and capability building."

In the 2014 Lima conference, Mr. Su Wei spoke as China's top climate change negotiator and director of the NDRC Climate Change Department of China that China is still standing with the developing countries. He noted, "The developing countries share similar domestic conditions and historical backgrounds, enjoy wide common interests. Therefore, close relationship are kept to safeguard common interests before and amid the negotiation."