In November 2019 the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China published a report titled China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change. The stated aim of the report was to help “interested people fully understand China’s policies and actions, and their performance and effects in addressing climate change.”
That report remains a key statement of China’s approach to dealing with climate change.
Below, we reproduce the Foreword to the report by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. Click the following link to go to the full report (in English): China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change
“The Chinese government has always attached great importance to addressing climate change.”
“Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized many times, addressing climate change should
not be done at others’ requests, but on our own initiative. It is not only the internal needs to
achieve sustainable development but also the due responsibility to promote the development of
the community with a shared future for mankind. At the National Conference on Ecological
and Environmental Protection, President Xi Jinping clearly proposed that we would implement
a national strategy for actively addressing climate change. This would include advancing and
guiding the establishment of a global climate governance system featuring equity, rationality
and win-win cooperation.”
“The local governments and relevant departments adhered to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought
on ecological civilization, implementing the arrangements and requirements of the National
Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection, as well as implementing the “13th
Five-Year Plan” (FYP) tasks of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission control, and made new
progress in addressing climate change proactively.”
“According to preliminarily estimation, in 2018, China’s carbon dioxide emissions per unit gross
domestic product (GDP) (hereinafter referred to as carbon intensity) fell by 4.0%, cumulatively
declined by 45.8% compared to 2005, equivalent to 5.26 billion tons of carbon dioxide
emissions reduction, and non-fossil energy accounted for 14.3% of primary energy
consumption, which basically reversed the rapid growth trend of carbon dioxide emissions.
Large-scale land greening and ecological protection and restoration engineering projects
continued to advance, the ability to adapt to climate change has been continuously enhanced,
the institutional mechanisms for addressing climate change has been continuously improved,
and the awareness of climate change in the whole society has been improved, making an
important contribution to address global climate change.”
“China is still a developing country with GDP per capita lower than the world average, faced
with the prominent problem of insufficient and imbalanced development. It is also facing a
series of arduous tasks, such as economy development, people’s livelihood improvement,
poverty eradication, and winning the battle against pollution. As a responsible country, China
has actively undertaken the international responsibilities in line with its own development stage
and national conditions and has made painstaking effort to effectively implement climate
change policies and actions, so as to contribute to the construction of global ecological
civilization.”
“In the next step, we will continue to thoroughly following on and implement Xi Jinping Thought
on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era on economy, ecological civilization
and diplomacy, fully implement the decisions and arrangements of the Communist Party of
China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council, and unswervingly implement the
national strategies of actively addressing climate change. We will promote international
cooperation of climate change on the basis of principles of common but differentiated
responsibilities, equity, and respective capabilities, and implement the deployment decided on
the meetings of the National Leading Group for Addressing Climate Change and Energy
Conservation and Emission Reduction, to ensure the fulfillment of the 13th FYP targets for
addressing climate change.”
SOURCE: Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, November, 2019. http://english.mee.gov.cn/Resources/Reports/reports/201912/P020191204495763994956.pdf
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