China eyes implementing Paris Agreement
By Zhang Lulu
Original, china.org.cn / chinagate.cn , 11-07-2016
Xie Zhenhua, China's chief climate change negotiator and vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, attends a climate change press conference on Nov. 1 in Beijing. [Photo/China.org.cn]
As the landmark Paris Agreement enters into force on Nov. 4 and this year's U.N. climate change conference begins on Nov. 7 in Marrakesh, Morocco, Chinese climate change negotiators and experts are setting their sights on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement signed at last year's climate change meeting required countries to limit the rise in average global temperature to 2 degree Celsius while pursuing a target rise of only 1.5 degree Celsius compared to preindustrial levels. Countries need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which is the greatest source of the changing and vulnerable climate.
Xie Zhenhua, China's chief climate change negotiator, said during a press conference on Tuesday that this year's conference will be "a conference of implementation."
Xie said the Marrakesh conference will make detailed plans to implement what was achieved in last year's conference. "It will also urge countries to meet their commitments in tackling climate change before 2020, especially the commitment of developed countries to provide US$100 billion per year to developing countries as well as implementing the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions of each country in action." added Xie, who is also the vice minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission.
Zou Ji, who is an expert in climate change and has attended the U.N. climate change conferences for the past 19 years in a row, broke down this year's mission into six parts: mitigation, adaptation, funding, technology, transparency and capacity building.
"It's just as difficult to implement as to reach the agreements," he said during an interview with China.org.cn on Thursday."The devil is in the detail"
"We often say that the devil is in detail. When it comes to the implementation, it requires genuine input and concrete action. Countries are expected to continue debating and negotiating in this year's conference." Said Zou, who is also the deputy director general of the Beijing-based National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation.
Zou Ji, an expert in climate change and the deputy director general of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, during an interview on Nov. 3 in Beijing. [Photo by Wei Yao/Beijing Review]
One of the focal points during climate change conferences is money. The Paris Agreement stipulates that developed countries should "provide financial resources" to developing countries in both mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
Developed countries pledged to mobilize US$100 billion to help developing countries to tackle climate change by 2020. However, the Green Climate Fund, a climate change-related fund under the U.N., reported only US$ 10.3 billion in pledges from developed countries as of October this year.
Zou said that developed countries should make public the sum of funds they offered and the methods of accounting. "Developing countries have been calling for funds that are used specifically for tackling climate change, instead of other funds that are barely related to climate change. For instance, money that's already been invested in poverty reduction in developing countries should not be taken as climate funds."
The Paris Agreement requires a concrete roadmap of the US$100 billion, and this year countries will need to work towards drafting the roadmap, Zou said.
"Funding issues usually attract the greatest attention from developing countries, especially the least developed countries. If funding does not materialize, it will directly undermine the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities'." Zou said. The principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" means that though all countries need to address climate change, developing and developed countries have different responsibilities due to their different contribution to global emissions and their national conditions.
Zou said that China, though itself a developing country, would continue helping other developing countries to claim and exercise their rights to the fund.
Other issues such as the global stocktake and technology development and transfer, also need to be worked out this year and in the future, Zou said.Carbon emission reduction in China
Xie announced on Tuesday's press conference that between 2011 and 2015, China's carbon intensity, or carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, decreased by 20 percent, well above its 17 percent goal. In 2015, the consumption of non-fossil fuel accounted for 12 percent of primary energy, exceeding the country's original target of 11.4 percent.
Zou attributed the better-than-expected performance to the Chinese government's determination and concrete efforts in pursuing a low-carbon growth and tacking climate change, as well the country's slower economic growth and the weakening international demand in recent years.
China pledged to peak its carbon emission by 2030, which Zou believed is achievable but requires arduous effort.
The greenhouse gasses today are a result of the world's accumulative carbon dioxide emissions that can be traced back as early as the Industrial Revolution more than two centuries ago, Zou explained to a group of foreign and Chinese journalist in Beijing on Friday. Developed countries, though comprising only 20 percent or so of the world's population, account for 70 percent of the world's accumulative carbon dioxide emissions. For instance, the accumulative emissions from the United States and EU member countries during 1850 and 2012 were respectively 2.6 times and 2.4 times that of China.
Zou said that developed countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada peaked their carbon emissions at a high rate of around 20 tons per person annually, and EU and Japan at around 10 tons. He expected China, which is still a developing country, to peak at around 10 tons per person. "This will be a great contribution to the humanity in tackling climate change," he said.
By Zhang Lulu
Original, china.org.cn / chinagate.cn , 11-07-2016
Xie Zhenhua, China's chief climate change negotiator and vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, attends a climate change press conference on Nov. 1 in Beijing. [Photo/China.org.cn]
As the landmark Paris Agreement enters into force on Nov. 4 and this year's U.N. climate change conference begins on Nov. 7 in Marrakesh, Morocco, Chinese climate change negotiators and experts are setting their sights on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement signed at last year's climate change meeting required countries to limit the rise in average global temperature to 2 degree Celsius while pursuing a target rise of only 1.5 degree Celsius compared to preindustrial levels. Countries need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which is the greatest source of the changing and vulnerable climate.
Xie Zhenhua, China's chief climate change negotiator, said during a press conference on Tuesday that this year's conference will be "a conference of implementation."
Xie said the Marrakesh conference will make detailed plans to implement what was achieved in last year's conference. "It will also urge countries to meet their commitments in tackling climate change before 2020, especially the commitment of developed countries to provide US$100 billion per year to developing countries as well as implementing the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions of each country in action." added Xie, who is also the vice minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission.
Zou Ji, who is an expert in climate change and has attended the U.N. climate change conferences for the past 19 years in a row, broke down this year's mission into six parts: mitigation, adaptation, funding, technology, transparency and capacity building.
"It's just as difficult to implement as to reach the agreements," he said during an interview with China.org.cn on Thursday."The devil is in the detail"
"We often say that the devil is in detail. When it comes to the implementation, it requires genuine input and concrete action. Countries are expected to continue debating and negotiating in this year's conference." Said Zou, who is also the deputy director general of the Beijing-based National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation.
Zou Ji, an expert in climate change and the deputy director general of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, during an interview on Nov. 3 in Beijing. [Photo by Wei Yao/Beijing Review]
One of the focal points during climate change conferences is money. The Paris Agreement stipulates that developed countries should "provide financial resources" to developing countries in both mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
Developed countries pledged to mobilize US$100 billion to help developing countries to tackle climate change by 2020. However, the Green Climate Fund, a climate change-related fund under the U.N., reported only US$ 10.3 billion in pledges from developed countries as of October this year.
Zou said that developed countries should make public the sum of funds they offered and the methods of accounting. "Developing countries have been calling for funds that are used specifically for tackling climate change, instead of other funds that are barely related to climate change. For instance, money that's already been invested in poverty reduction in developing countries should not be taken as climate funds."
The Paris Agreement requires a concrete roadmap of the US$100 billion, and this year countries will need to work towards drafting the roadmap, Zou said.
"Funding issues usually attract the greatest attention from developing countries, especially the least developed countries. If funding does not materialize, it will directly undermine the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities'." Zou said. The principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" means that though all countries need to address climate change, developing and developed countries have different responsibilities due to their different contribution to global emissions and their national conditions.
Zou said that China, though itself a developing country, would continue helping other developing countries to claim and exercise their rights to the fund.
Other issues such as the global stocktake and technology development and transfer, also need to be worked out this year and in the future, Zou said.Carbon emission reduction in China
Xie announced on Tuesday's press conference that between 2011 and 2015, China's carbon intensity, or carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, decreased by 20 percent, well above its 17 percent goal. In 2015, the consumption of non-fossil fuel accounted for 12 percent of primary energy, exceeding the country's original target of 11.4 percent.
Zou attributed the better-than-expected performance to the Chinese government's determination and concrete efforts in pursuing a low-carbon growth and tacking climate change, as well the country's slower economic growth and the weakening international demand in recent years.
China pledged to peak its carbon emission by 2030, which Zou believed is achievable but requires arduous effort.
The greenhouse gasses today are a result of the world's accumulative carbon dioxide emissions that can be traced back as early as the Industrial Revolution more than two centuries ago, Zou explained to a group of foreign and Chinese journalist in Beijing on Friday. Developed countries, though comprising only 20 percent or so of the world's population, account for 70 percent of the world's accumulative carbon dioxide emissions. For instance, the accumulative emissions from the United States and EU member countries during 1850 and 2012 were respectively 2.6 times and 2.4 times that of China.
Zou said that developed countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada peaked their carbon emissions at a high rate of around 20 tons per person annually, and EU and Japan at around 10 tons. He expected China, which is still a developing country, to peak at around 10 tons per person. "This will be a great contribution to the humanity in tackling climate change," he said.
