SCIO briefing on China's Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change (2016)

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Speaker:
Mr. Xie Zhenhua, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)

Chairperson:
Xi Yanchun, vice director-general of the Press Bureau, State Council Information Office

Date:
Nov. 1, 2016

Xi Yanchun:

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the press conference of the State Council Information Office.

The Marrakech Climate Change Conference will soon open. Today, "China's Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change (2016)" was officially published. We're pleased to have invited Mr. Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change, to introduce the report and answer your questions. Now, let's give floor to Mr. Xie.

Xie Zhenhua:

Media friends, good morning! Welcome to today's press conference on "China's Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change (2016)." Today, I see new friends, which is a good thing. It means that more and more media outlets and friends from the media circle are concerned about climate change.

The 22nd Session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) will be held in Marrakech, Morocco between Nov. 7 and 18. Some members from China's delegation have already set out for the meeting. Over 80 delegates from related government agencies will attend the event and negotiate around dozens of topics with each negotiator responsible for his/her respective field. As the first COP conference after the Paris Agreement takes effect, the event aims to make plans and implement what was achieved at 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 and the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions of each country in action.

A celebration marking the Paris Agreement's entering into effect and the first COP meeting on Paris Agreement will be held during the second week of the Marrakech Climate Change Conference.

The annual report released today is mainly to introduce China's progress and achievements in combating climate change since the 12th Five-Year Plan (2010-2015). The report consists of eight parts, which illustrate the policies made, actions taken and progress achieved by central and local government departments and also in various fields in mitigating climate change, adapting to climate change, pilots and demonstrations for low-carbon development, strategic planning and institutional construction, basic capability building, broad participation of society, actively promoting international negotiations as well as strengthening international exchanges and cooperation.

Before the annual COP meeting, we routinely introduce China's policies, actions and progress in combating climate change to the public and the international community. The Chinese government attaches great importance to tackling climate change. Since the 12th Five-Year Plan, it has incorporated green and low-carbon development as an important part of building ecological civilizations and as a vital opportunity to transform economic development patterns and to adjust economic structure. Thanks to its strong policy measures, China has effectively controlled greenhouse gas emissions, enhanced its capacity to adapt to climate change and achieved significant progress in many of its undertakings on this front.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, China's carbon intensity decreased by 20 percent, well above its 17-percent goal. Energy structure continues to be optimized. In 2015, the proportion of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption reached 12 percent, which exceeded its original target of 11.4 percent. Forest stock raised to 15.137 billion cubic meters, achieving the goal of increasing forest stock by 2020 ahead of schedule.

Up until September 2016, a total quota of 120 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents was imposed in seven pilot carbon emissions trading markets, with an accumulated transaction volume up to more than 3.2 billion yuan. This has demonstrated China's resolve to combat climate change through tangible actions.

The Chinese government has actively participated in negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), firmly followed the principle and framework of the convention and stayed committed to the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, equity and respective capabilities. China has also kept close exchanges and coordination with the United States, the European Union and other major developed countries, enhanced unity and cooperation among developing countries and played a vital role in promoting the conclusion of the historic Paris Agreement through multilateral mechanisms like the Basic countries and like-minded developing countries.

China has made vigorous efforts to help other developing countries improve their ability to adapt to climate change. By establishing the South-South Climate Cooperation Fund, the Chinese government has invested 580 million yuan on material aid and equipment to small island states, least developed countries, African countries and other developing countries. China has also given strong support to these countries in their participation in international negotiations, policy development, personnel training and other issues related to climate change. In the other developing countries, China has launched 10 low-carbon demonstration projects, 100 climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, and training courses for 1,000 experts and officials.

This is mainly what I wanted to tell you. Now, I'd like to take your questions. Thank you.


Xi Yanchun:

Thank you Mr. Xie. Now, the floor is open to questions. Please identify your media outlet before raising questions.

Wen Wei Po:

The Marrakech Climate Change Conference is about to open. Would you tell us China's basic position at the conference? What does China expect from it? Thank you.

Xie Zhenhua:

I attended a ministerial meeting in preparation of the Marrakech conference before attending this press conference. At that meeting, ministers from more than 50 countries reached consensus that the conference must address the following issues.

First, we need to enhance actions to address climate change before 2020. When we talk about the Paris Agreement, we are generously talking about the actions after 2020. Therefore, we need to make sure that the consensus we have reached and the commitments we have made in the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Doha Amendment will be honored.

Second, we need to find out how all countries fulfill their commitments on intended nationally determined contributions, because in order to convene the facilitative dialogue in 2018, we need to have a clear picture of what all countries have done.

Third, we will hold a series of negotiations to devise detailed implementation plans for the Paris Agreement. All parties need to make specific arrangements for the negotiations. There should be a schedule and a roadmap. The Paris Agreement will be carried out through a series of mechanisms and systems. This is also an important topic of the Marrakech conference.

The fourth topic is also of most concern to developing countries. It regards developed countries' actual fulfillment of their commitments of offering aid to developing countries in terms of funds, technologies and capacity building. We need to show to everyone how much money the developed countries have offered, where the money went, what has been done, and what results have been achieved so far. Therefore, at the ministerial meeting, UK and Australia conducted a statistical survey on the overall preparation of the financial aid among the OECD member countries, announcing that so far, more than US$60 billion have been invested to help developing countries. Yet, many developing countries demanded a deeper investigation to check if the aid was new, additional, adequate and predictable as required by the Convention. As a result, at the Marrakech conference, there may be discussions on the arrangement of financial aid and the transfer of technologies. Some judgments and decisions may be made on the occasion.

Fifth, the ultimate approach to implement the Paris Agreement is to promote sustainable, green and low-carbon development, so the Marrakech conference will make arrangements in this regard.

There is another important issue at the Marrakech conference. The Paris Agreement will take effect on the second week of the conference. There will be a celebratory event, and the first meeting of all signatory countries will also be convened.

The above are Marrakech conference's main topics and tasks and China's basic positions.


CCTV:

What was the role of China in signing the Paris Agreement last year as well as bringing it into effect now? Thank you.

Xie Zhenhua:

As United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, China has made historical, fundamental, important and key contributions to the Paris Agreement and the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris. In 2014, leaders from China and the United States issued the Sino-U.S. Joint Statement on Climate Change, in which the biggest developing country and the biggest developed country, the top two emitters of greenhouse gases in the world, announced their respective targets on Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC). The move set an example globally and the "bottom-up" INDC system took shape. Following China and the United States, more than 160 countries have announced their INDC target, which, in fact, has set the tone for the most controversial issues of emission, like who is responsible for emission reduction and how to reduce emission. That's the historical contribution China has made, just as Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon had said. On the eve of the Paris Conference, there were still significant differences regarding the Paris Agreement, especially in how to reflect the distinction between developed countries and developing countries in mitigating climate change, adapting to climate change, funds, technologies and capability building.

During the process, Chinese government and leaders launched extensive contact with some leaders of developed countries and developing countries and before the U.N. Climate Change Conference held in Paris came up with a joint statement with the United States, France, the European Union, India and Brazil to reach a consensus on the major differences in the Paris Agreement and find a solution to address the issues. During the conference, delegations of countries reached the Paris Agreement based on the principles of openness, transparency and extensive participation.

The Paris Agreement requires signing and domestic ratification. The agreement was scheduled to be open for signature in the United Nations on April 22, 2016, which means that you have to make the first move if you agree. During the process, President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Obama made a third joint statement, announcing that China and the United States will sign the agreement at the United Nations on April 22. We did what we announced. Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, as a special envoy of President Xi, signed the agreement for China. Over 100 countries have signed the agreement, following the example of major countries.

The agreement shall not take effect until at least 55 countries accounting for more than 55 percent of global emissions have signed and ratified it. We invited the United States to attend the G20 summit of this year. On Sept. 23, the leaders of China and the United States handed over their countries' legal instruments of joining the agreement to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. More countries ratified the agreement at the ratifying ceremony held in the United Nations, and so far the above-mentioned threshold has been exceeded. The agreement will take effect one month after the threshold was exceeded as the agreement stipulates. The threshold of the agreement was exceeded on Oct. 5, and the agreement shall come into effect on Nov. 4. The Chinese government and its leaders have made many efforts in and important contributions to reaching, signing, ratifying and bringing into effect the agreement.


The Wall Street Journal:

I would like to ask about the upcoming U.S. presidential election which is going to take place very soon. Obviously, the Republican candidate Mr. Trump has said he would reject the Paris Agreement, which China and U.S. have worked so hard to achieve. Moreover, he has previously accused China of basically making up the issue of climate change a way to harm U.S. industry. Could you describe how China would work with the Trump administration on the issue of climate change when he has been so aggressive and critical of the Paris Accord. Thanks.

Xie Zhenhua:

Many people have raised this question. In particular, I have discussed this question with former U.S. Vice President Gore this year in Beijing during a dialogue on climate change issues and development patterns. Actually, the Paris Agreement is an international treaty adopted by countries all around the world. It is legally binding. It should be noted that the Paris Agreement depicts or shows the general trend of green and low-carbon development globally. It has now become a tide. Thus, nations around the world are following the trend and actively transforming development patterns and adjusting structures in a bid to eliminate poverty and maintain economic growth, improve people's livelihood, protect the environment and address climate change. Leaders of all countries should conform to this global development trend. If they go against this trend, I don't think they will get the support from their people, and their economic and social development will be impacted. From this point of view, I believe a wise leader will know that all the policies and measures should conform to the global development trend. Thank you.


China Daily:

Would you please tell us more about the impact of the Paris Agreement has on the global fight against climate change after it enters into force? What is China's view about that? Thank you.

Xie Zhenhua:

One of the most important outcomes of the Paris Agreement is that it determines the long-term goal of coping with global climate change. It aims to limit the global temperature rise to within 2 degrees Celsius at the end of this century and strive to reach an even lower goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Whether we can meet the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius - the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is still working on that - but 2 degrees Celsius has become a certain goal. The agreement explicitly states that it aims to reach a neutrality of carbon emissions and carbon sequestration, which is called carbon neutrality. It also aims to achieve green and low-carbon development and raise the adaptation capabilities of nations so that they can adapt to extreme climate events. This is the important long-term goal and vision established by the Paris Agreement, which has indicated the general trend of global development.

It is consistent with China's development goal of strengthening the construction of an ecological civilization, as well as the idea, strategy, policies and measures of achieving green, low-carbon and circular development. It indicates that the long-term development goal and strategies established by the Chinese government is in tune with global trends and China has also played an important role in facilitating this process.

The final purpose is to eliminate poverty while developing the economy as well as having a better quality of growth and profits in order to protect the environment and adapt to climate change, as well as achieve the global goal of addressing climate change. We will unswervingly implement China's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), which aims to achieve the peaking of carbon dioxide emissions by around 2030, and will make the best efforts to peak as early as possible; further optimize energy structure and industrial structure so as to conform to global trends and achieve sustainable development at home; achieve "two century goals", as well as make contributions to protecting global environment. Thank you.


Reuters:

A few questions from Reuters. My first question is would we be able to find out more about the progress that has been made towards China' s national carbon trading scheme that's supposed to come into being next year? Secondly, are there any updated figures on China's total greenhouse gas emissions? We know that some analysts have said your estimates are out of date. And finally, China's coal consumption may have peaked early. We're wondering has this put pressure on China to raise its ambition to cut its coal use? Thank you.

Xie Zhenhua:

You raised three questions altogether, and all of the three are quite to the point. President Xi announced at the UN meeting that China would launch a national carbon trading market in 2017 and all the preparation is well under way. We have already had carbon trading pilots in seven provinces or cities, and the work has been smooth. We have institutions and local legislatures that have identified and allocated carbon quotas and established a system of accounting, report and inspection. We have also established trading rules, improved the supervision system and capacity building, and brought into being a thorough, unique, local carbon emission trading market that operates smoothly.

We have done the following work regarding the carbon market so far. First, we have formulated a plan to identify and allocate the total carbon trading quotas. Second, we issued the "Notice on Preparing to Launch the National Carbon Emission Trading Market," and carried out accounting, reporting and inspection of historical carbon emission data in more than 7,000 enterprises that have serious carbon emission issues. Third, we accelerated the related lawmaking work. We have drafted the "Regulations on the Management of Carbon Emissions Trading," which has been submitted to the State Council for legislation. We also drafted the "Methods for the Management on the Reporting of Carbon Emission in Enterprises" and the "Methods for the Management of Carbon Emissions Trading," which have laid down a solid legal foundation. Fourth, capacity building has been strengthened. We enhanced the training for people involved in the carbon trading market, established a platform to enable consultations about emission-related reporting and inspection, as well as set up a reporting system of greenhouse gas emissions data. It takes time for the launch and full operation of China's nationwide carbon market, but once it's built, it will be the world's largest carbon emissions trading market.

Regarding the emissions data. Developed countries often cast doubts on China's official data, including carbon emission data, and this is exactly where the capacity gap lies between developed countries and developing countries. During the climate change negotiations, we talked about having more transparency in various countries, which is directly linked to their capacity of addressing climate change - to build a system of auditing, monitoring and verification that showcases the gap between developed countries and developing countries. This system has been built in developed countries as they are highly industrialized. But when I visit many developing countries where the basic needs of life haven't been met, there is no possibility of setting up that system. Thus we made it clear in the Paris Agreement that more flexibility should be given to developing countries in this regard. We need to offer financial, technological and capacity support to them, and then address the transparency issues. China is also in the developing phase; we are making every effort to improve the auditing, monitoring and verification systems. China has been working on energy conservation and emission reduction for a number of years, thus the system is gradually improving. I believe the data we report is accurate based on our capabilities currently, but it falls short of meeting international standards. We are improving in this regard. There will be a facilitative dialogue in 2018, and global stock-taking will begin in 2023 - all this requires accurate data.

Regarding the peak of coal consumption. I recently attended a conference of the China National Expert Committee on Climate Change. Both China and other countries are watching whether the country's carbon dioxide and coal consumption have reached respective peaks. Coal consumption is indeed decreasing currently, but more time is needed to tell whether it has reached a peak as China's economic growth is uncertain. We have made achievements in controlling total energy consumption and reducing coal consumption. Last year, global carbon dioxide emissions did not increase, which has been credited to China by some countries, as the country witnessed a slow growth of carbon dioxide emissions combined with highly reduced coal consumption. These are all pure facts. Thank you.


China News Service:

Can we reach our objectives of energy consumption and carbon intensity reduction this year? What kinds of measures have we taken to achieve such targets? What measures will we take next to accomplish the goals of conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions set by the 13th Five-Year Plan?

Xie Zhenhua:

Let's see some data. According to the 13th Five-Year Plan, the reduction targets of energy consumption and carbon intensity are 15 and 18 percent, respectively, and non-fossil energy resources shall make up 15 percent of primary energy consumption. We have already reached the goal of forest growing stock, and will control the total volume of energy consumption, especially coal consumption. This year's reduction targets of energy consumption and carbon intensity are 3.4 and 3.9 percent respectively. During the first three quarters, energy consumption per unit of GDP has fallen by 5.2 percent, while carbon intensity has decreased by some 6 percent. That means we have already achieved the whole year's target in the first three quarters. We have been largely taking the following measures:

Firstly, optimizing industrial structure. Currently, the tertiary sector accounted for 52.8 percent of the country's GDP, up 1.6 percentage points year on year. The added value of high-tech and strategic emerging industries also remained at a growth rate, 4.6 and 4.8 percentage points respectively higher than the industrial enterprises above a certain scale. All high-tech and strategic emerging industries are low-carbon and low-emission. After structural adjustment, these industries developed rapidly, and energy consumption and carbon emissions were hence reduced.

Secondly, improving energy efficiency and optimizing energy structure. We will take more effective measures in the industrial sector as well as transport and public fields, including improving energy use efficiency, adjusting energy structure, developing renewable energy resources and arousing enthusiasm of society.

Thirdly, we will also take a series of engineering measures. The 13th Five-Year Plan vows to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, while improving some economic policies, such as pricing reform of resources, system of low-carbon price, incentive mechanism of finance and tax as well as development of green finance. These policies are expected to promote low-carbon and cyclic development while limiting projects featuring high energy consumption and high emissions.

In addition, we will move our work forward on carbon emission trading market and low-carbon pilots. Till now, carbon intensity in all pilot provinces reduced significantly, which has proven the success of pilot projects. If the pilot provinces could achieve their targets, other places can do the same. We will take more effective measures in this area to achieve the targets set by the 13th Five-Year Plan. Thank you.


NHK from Japan:

There are still many countries, including Japan, that have not ratified the Paris Agreement. What's your opinion on the situation? My second question: the Paris Agreement stipulates that each country needs to submit a long-term low-carbon emission development strategy within years. When will China submit it?

Xie Zhenhua:

The Paris Agreement will take effect soon and still has not been ratified by some countries. The negotiation about its implementation afterwards needs to be inclusive. This year we'll have the first COP after the Paris Agreement takes effect; afterwards, we'll cease temporarily and wait for more countries to ratify the agreement, and then let's carry on the COP. Why? Some of the countries have not ratified the agreement and we need more countries to get involved, as our multilateral process of tackling climate change should be inclusive. It's our common desire.

Some countries like Japan have not ratified the agreement. However, during the preliminary session, the minister from Japan said that it would be ratified within this year. Other main carbon emission countries all noted that they would ratify it during the Marrakech Conference or by the end of this year. Anyway, each country follows its own legal rules and procedures to ratify an international convention. Be it later or sooner, it needs some time. However, so far, no country has said they would not ratify it. We anticipate Japan will approve it soon.

As for your second question, China has now completed the related work of proposing a low-carbon development strategy for the years leading up to 2050. We will communicate with experts and think tanks from major countries to get more suggestions and make amendments. We have set the targets by the years of 2030 and 2050 and more policy measures are needed to realize them. I insist that China will soon announce the low-carbon development strategy for the years leading up to 2050. Thank you.


 Xinhua News Agency:

Just now you mentioned that before the Paris Agreement took effect, there had been a very deep chasm between some countries on some key issues, the negotiations had been very difficult and China had played a very important role during the process. Now the Paris Agreement has been reached, so what are your expectations for the Marrakech Conference, particularly relating to the strength as well as the outcome of the negotiations? Moreover, you mentioned that celebrations of the Paris Agreement are to be held during the meeting, so could you give us a brief introduction in this regard? Thank you.

Xie Zhenhua:

At the ministerial-level preparatory meeting, the Chinese delegation made the following points about the Marrakech Conference, which are also our general expectations.

First, we hope that the Marrakech Conference as well as future negotiations on the implementation of the Paris Agreement will consolidate and carry forward the atmosphere formed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, namely, all parties are playing an active and constructive role in the pursuit of win-win cooperation. This is also in line with China's plans for global climate governance, which were elaborated by President Xi Jinping at Paris Conference.

Second, mutual political trust must be established. All parties should implement the pre-2020 commitments, which China has already implemented. We hope that developed countries will give the capital, technology and capacity-building support to developing countries, so that developing countries can "see and feel" the help. A request we will put forward at the Marrakech Conference is for the developed countries to at least materialize the US$100 billion-per-year pledge for developing countries by 2020, and to increase the sum after 2020. Even if developed countries cannot afford the money now, they should give a detailed timetable and road map. At this point, many developed countries have been actively working on it. British and Australian ministers said on behalf of developed countries that they are very confident of fulfilling, and even over-fulfilling the goal by 2020. Now the key problem is to make clear how much of the US$100 billion are the new and additional capital to be specifically provided for supporting developing countries in tackling climate change rather than the repeatedly calculated capitals.

Third, we need to present the differences. Although every country should tackle with climate change with concrete action, the different conditions of different countries in various phases, levels and situations of developments should be taken into consideration in line with the Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities. After the "Paris Agreement" was reached, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) issued a new agenda in reducing the emissions. Every party signing the "Montreal Protocol" started to cut the emissions caused by hydrofluorocarbons. Within all the abovementioned endeavors, the differences between developed and developing countries are highlighted, marking a very good signal. Such a momentum should be maintained. For the Chinese government, it needs firstly to manage domestic issues well, and, secondly, to continue to play its proactive and constructive roles in pushing forward the process.

We have just been informed by the president of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that there will be a celebration for the ratification of the "Paris Agreement" during the second week of the conference. But we don't have more specific information yet, perhaps we'll know more when our delegation arrives at Marrakech, Morocco. The president has also invited some state leaders to attend the conference. But so far, to our knowledge many leaders may not be able to make appearances because of their tight schedules. Nevertheless, some state leaders will attend.

Xi Yanchun:

Thanks for the detailed information provided by Mr. Xie and thank you all for your concerns over the issues of climate change. That's the end of the press conference. Thanks.

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