A logo of the COP 27 summit Photo: Xinhua

China attaches great importance to addressing climate change and is willing to work with the international community to promote global climate governance, the Chinese delegation said on Tuesday at the ongoing 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) held in Egypt's coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh, noting that China, in the past decade, has saved a total of 1.4 billion tons of standard coal.

Climate change is a common challenge faced by all mankind. China attaches great importance to addressing the issue, and has implemented a national strategy to actively respond to climate change and unswervingly pursuing a green and low-carbon development path, Zhao Yingmin, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment leading the Chinese delegation at the conference, said at a side meeting on Tuesday.

To achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, China has set up a special working group and issued implementation plans for key areas including energy, industry and transportation, and completed the construction of the "1+N" policy system of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, Zhao said.

Zhao noted that in the past decade, China's annual energy consumption growth rate of 3 percent supported an average economic growth rate of 6.6 percent, carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP decreased by about 34.4 percent, energy consumption per unit of GDP decreased by 26.4 percent, and achieved a cumulative saving of 1.4 billion tons of standard coal.

China regards the carbon market as an important tool for climate policy, and actively promotes the construction of a national carbon emissions trading market, said Zhao, adding that the national carbon market officially launched online trading on July 16, 2021, covering 4.5 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, making it the world's largest carbon market. The market has operated in a stable and orderly manner on the whole over the past year.

Sebartian Eckardt, a practice manager in the East Asia and Pacific Region with the World Bank, said at the meeting that the challenges to achieve these goals are indeed unprecedented, but they will also bring new opportunities.

Other scholars at the meeting said that they believe China will play an important role in global climate change governance.

China has maintained good communication and cooperation with the United Nations and international financial institutions to actively address climate change, the Chinese delegate said.

China is willing to work with the international community to promote the comprehensive, balanced and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, and continuously contribute Chinese wisdom and solutions to jointly build a fair and reasonable global governance system for climate change with win-win cooperation, said Zhao.

Global Times