ON September 9, 2016, Erik Solheim, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), attended the "Wild for Life" global campaign China stop and the launch ceremony of the "Green Airport" planning project at Beijing Capital Airport.

Green finance and wild life protection are the top issues for Erik Solheim's first visit to China after becoming head of the UNEP. [Photo by Liu Yi/China Today]

Erik Solheim gave a brief interview with China Today on the sidelines of the activity. He said, "I am so happy that China has made sure that green finance be incorporated for the first time into the key issues of the G20 Summit."

"China has made great efforts to make banks and insurance companies much greener, such as directing the finance to, for example, sustainable agriculture," Solheim said.

Earlier this year, at the initiative of the Chinese G20 presidency, the G20 established the Green Finance Study Group (GFSG), co-chaired by China and the United Kingdom with support from the UNEP as secretariat.

At the recently concluded Hangzhou Summit, the G20 Leaders' Communique fully endorsed the comprehensive report drafted by GFSG and explicitly expressed their support in expanding green investment and financing and facilitating trans-national green bond investment.

On his first visit to China after becoming head of the UNEP, Erik Solheim also met with the Chinese Ministry of Environment Protection and other departments. He said the UNEP will "give absolute priority to the relationship with China, as China will be a key factor in developing a greener world in the next decade. "

The UNEP will also be playing a more proactive role in the Belt and Road Initiative. "One Belt One Road is an important investment for China, but even more important for Asia," Solheim said.

Regarding China and the United States' ratification of the Paris Agreement last week: "This is good news for the world," Solheim said. "China and the U.S. took the lead to ratify the Paris Agreement, which will set an example to other countries, as China and the U.S. are the largest economies in the world, and also the biggest emitters."

Prior to joining the UNEP this May, Solheim was Chair of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Before that, he served as Minister of the Environment and International Development in Norway. Solheim is also an experienced peace negotiator, having acted as the main facilitator of the peace process in Sri Lanka.

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