Press conference on promoting ecological progress and building of a beautiful China
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 4, 2019
L'Express (Mauritius):
China's carbon dioxide emission is relatively low, considering your economic growth, around 2% over the last five years. However, China is still building coal power plants in member countries of the Belt and Road Initiative. How do you intend to tackle this disparity, considering your commitment, globally, to fight climate change? Thank you.
Li Ganjie:
Thanks for your question, and I would also like to thank you for following the green development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Chinese government has placed great importance on constructing mechanisms to ensure the green development of the BRI. President Xi Jinping has stressed on different occasions the importance of building the BRI into a "road of green development", and the need to pursue open, green and clean cooperation. The BRI aims to promote green development and China will launch green infrastructure projects, make green investment and provide green financing.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has been working hard to promote green development of the BRI so as to ensure that projects under the BRI are in line with green development. What we have been doing can be summarized as follows:
First, we have promoted top-level design. Working together with related departments, we have issued the Guidance on Promoting Green Belt and Road and the Belt and Road Ecological and Environmental Cooperation Plan.
Second, we have improved the cooperation mechanism. We have signed more than 50 cooperation documents with the environmental protection departments of countries along the Belt and Road and relevant international organizations. Moreover, we have officially established the International Coalition for Green Development on the Belt and Road. To date, over 130 stakeholders, including government agencies, enterprises, think tanks and international organizations, have become members of this international coalition.
Third, we have established various platforms for cooperation. We have launched a platform of green supply chains for the BRI, and the Lancang-Mekong Environmental Protection Center. Working with Cambodia, we have established the China-Cambodia Environmental Cooperation Center. Currently, we are working with African countries to build a center for Sino-African environmental cooperation. We have also launched the Belt and Road Big Data Service Platform on Ecological and Environmental Protection.
Fourth, we have enhanced policy dialogues. Working together with the National Development and Reform Commission, we held a thematic forum on Green Silk Road at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in April. We have also organized a series of seminars and discussions, with about 20 such events every year.
Fifth, we have strengthened capacity building. We have helped some countries along the BRI train professionals in ecological and environmental protection as well as in green development. In recent years, we offer support to over 300 people to attend exchange and training programs in China every year. Moreover, we have officially set up the Belt and Road Environmental Technology Exchange and Transfer Center in Shenzhen.
All of these efforts have played a positive role in promoting the green development of the BRI. The practices have showed that the BRI is not only for economic prosperity but also for green development. Only if we integrate ecological and environmental protection into all aspects of the Belt and Road construction, can we ensure its steady and continuous development. Our work has indeed proven effective.
Going forward, we will continue to give priority to green development of the BRI and do a better job, with focus on advancing the development of the International Coalition for Green Development on the Belt and Road and the Belt and Road Big Data Service Platform on Ecological and Environmental Protection,. We will further enhance policy dialogues to enhance coordination of laws, regulations and standards, as well as promote the establishment of a list of investment projects to show whether they should be banned, restricted or encouraged. We will also work with related agencies to conduct joint environmental performance evaluation on projects. In addition, we will continue to carry out training programs, and strengthen capacity-building, so as to contribute more to the implementation of the BRI, and play a bigger part in building it into a road of green development. Thank you.
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