China's role in Bonn climate change conference
- By Sajjad Malik
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 25, 2017
The 23rd Conference of Parties (COP 23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded last week in Bonn. The delegates held crucial talks to prepare the ground for the COP 24 next year which will sum up the details, also termed as the Paris "rulebook" about implementation of the Paris agreement.
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China's special representative on climate change affairs Xie Zhenhua delivers a speech during the high-level forum on south-south cooperation on climate change held in the China pavilion at the 23rd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn, Germany, on Nov. 15, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] |
The historic agreement reached in Paris in December 2015 will direct efforts after 2020 to control global warming in view of the cataclysmic impact it could have on the global environment and its habitants.
The agreement plans to control global climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It also has set a worldwide target to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above that of the pre-industrial age
The deal was result of a common understanding between countries that global warming was a reality and the common responsibility of all humanity to take part in efforts to curtail the deadly consequences if left unchecked.
The challenge is huge and is impossible for a single nation or exclusive group of nations to deal with. This realization helped to clinch broad agreement in Paris with NDCs or nationally determined contributions as its basis.
For the first time, the small island nation of Fiji was given the Presidency of COP 23 in Bonn, where all logistic support was arranged by the German government. The gesture amplifies the commitment made by a world recognizing this tiny nation could not be allowed to be swallowed up by the cruelly rising sea waters.
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warned of looming natural disaster at the conference opening ceremony and asked to "preserve the global consensus for decisive action enshrined in the Paris Agreement" to check the global temperature.
The drastic impact of the temperature rise was noticed in the last century. It led to global concern about the collective future of humanity. The fight against climate change began in earnest from 1992 with the UNFCCC. Efforts made in this direction so far can be divided into pre-2020 phase and the years after the Paris deal is set to be implemented.
The efforts to carry forward the Paris consensus suffered a severe jolt when U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was pulling out of the agreement. He is among the group of naive people who have shut their eyes like a pigeon and insisted that the deadly cat of global warming is just fiction.
However, unlike the pigeon that, according to the story risked only its personal safety through inaction, the Trump cult is endangering the entire globe. Trump's unilateral action is a major disappointment, as his country is one of the major polluters and his dithering could certainly dilute the efforts to clean the environment of poisonous materials.
The U.S. decision to turn its back on global commitments has created space for China to come forward and play a role for the sake of coming generations. China under President Xi Jinping has exhibited enormous vision to foresee the danger of global warming and show commitment to provide leadership in implementing the Paris deal.
China took part in the Bonn conference and reiterated its intention to push ahead with global efforts. Lu Xinming, a negotiator from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and part of the delegation, told media that the Bonn meeting was crucial in defining the implementation guidelines of the Paris deal and battling climate change.
Lu said that China had submitted five proposals to the meeting on implementing the Paris Agreement, demonstrating the country's "proactive attitude in participating in and guiding the global climate negotiations."
China emphasized flexibility for the developing nations under the principal of "common but differentiated responsibilities" and also highlighted the comprehensive approach to mitigation, adaptation, finance and capacity building.
China has taken local initiatives to meet national targets and is also playing role promoting south-south cooperation in joint and integrated efforts to tackle global warming.
China in collaboration with other nations has paved way for the COP 24 scheduled to be held in December 2018 in Poland to compete the process.
As the world moves forward to deliver on the global commitment, Trump is further isolated on the climate change challenge, as the U.S. is now the only country out of the Paris deal after Syria announced during the Bonn meeting it would sign the agreement.
Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm
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