A Green Approach

On November 1， Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a written statement to the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. He offered a three-point proposal， including upholding multilateral consensus， focusing on concrete actions and accelerating the green transition， with a view to offering Chinese experience and expertise to the global response to climate change.

China is not historically responsible for the accumulation of greenhouse gas emissions. As an emerging country， China is committed to a green， low-carbon and high-quality development path that gives primacy to ecological civilization， accelerates the establishment of a circular economy， and places stringent controls on the development of energy-intensive and high-emission projects. China has recently issued a comprehensive action plan for achieving its goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030.

Chinas path of green transition and development will be a process of continuous exploration， innovation， learning and improvement.

Chinas explorations mainly include four aspects： First， led by the principles of green economic and social transition， China is promoting comprehensive structural changes， strictly limiting the expansion of energy-intensive and high-emission projects， and building an economic system that features green， low-carbon and circular development. Second， it will promote the modernization of its climate governance system and ensure its carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals are enshrined in and supported by strong legislation. Third， China will set out timetables and road maps for realizing carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. Fourth， the country will coordinate international and domestic efforts to address climate change， and work to create a fair and rational global climate governance system with mutually beneficial results.

The international political and economic landscape currently faces profound uncertainties. Populism and anti-globalization are prevailing and， especially since the arrival of the pandemic， mutual trust among countries has been declining， reducing the space for international cooperation. However， addressing climate change is one of the few areas with broad international consensus. The world must unite for action to protect the planet， our shared home.