{"id":8112,"date":"2023-08-29T21:50:19","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T18:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/?p=8112"},"modified":"2023-08-29T22:11:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T19:11:23","slug":"climate-change-our-times-defining-challenge-our-responsibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/climate-change-our-times-defining-challenge-our-responsibility","title":{"rendered":"Climate Change: Our Time’s Defining Challenge, Our Responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mr. Huang Runqiu, CCICED Chinese Executive Vice Chairperson Minister of Ecology and Environment\u202f<\/em><\/p>\n

Steven Guilbeault, International Executive Vice Chairperson of CCICED, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Canada,\u202f<\/em><\/p>\n

Fellow Vice Chairpersons\u202f<\/em><\/p>\n

Excellencies, colleagues and friends.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is an honour to serve as Vice Chairperson of the China<\/a> Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) alongside so many distinguished colleagues. I am pleased to be in Beijing for this Annual General Meeting<\/a> (AGM).<\/p>\n

By providing key policy recommendations and setting the CCICED\u2019s research priorities for the next year, this AGM can strengthen China\u2019s efforts to address the three environmental planetary crises: the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature and biodiversity loss<\/a>, and the crisis of pollution and waste.<\/p>\n

Poor and marginalized communities<\/a> have been suffering for years as result of the three crises. This suffering is now spreading to every nation and community. Our planet, our health and our economies are in serious and immediate peril.<\/p>\n

July was the hottest month in recorded<\/a> history. China hit a record temperature of 52.2 degrees C in Turpan, close to the Kumtag Desert. Four billion people in the Asia-Pacific region are exposed to air pollution. Nature and biodiversity loss<\/a> continues, with fears growing over the impacts on food systems.<\/p>\n

And so it is clear that the entire world needs to rapidly pivot in every sector to dampen these three crises. That is why I am particularly pleased that the CCICED\u2019s recommendations this year focus on areas that can deliver these pivots \u2013 from emissions reductions to green finance to implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework<\/a>. These are areas that exactly align with UNEP\u2019s mandate. Let\u2019s look at just a few.<\/p>\n

One, carbon<\/a> neutrality.<\/strong>
\nChina\u2019s commitments to peak emissions<\/a> before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060 are welcome. And China is, of course, making strides. As the CCICED\u2019s 2022-2023 policy study showed, China contributed around one third of the world\u2019s installed renewable energy<\/a> capacity in 2021. These numbers are remarkable.<\/p>\n

Allow me to zoom in on climate<\/a> for a moment and to highlight what I highlight in many of my speeches across the world. It is my contention that climate change is bigger than anything planet earth and, we, its human occupants, have ever experienced. Bigger than politics. Bigger than competition amongst and between nations. Bigger than nations and their civilisations and bigger than our collective history. It is, in the words of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, an existential crisis. I have therefore highlighted in my talks and speeches across the world that climate change cannot be lost in the squabble between nations. Cannot be lost when other crises appear on our doorstep. Lost in the squabble of domestic politics. Lost in the squabble of trade and competition. Or get pushed to the back burner to win the next election or to pacify domestic climate<\/a> deniers. Or pushed to the back burner to address economic woes. Climate change is THE challenge of our times. And it is up to us all to demonstrate leadership. Here and now.<\/p>\n

For China, therefore, the CCICED recommendation to formulate a systematic coal power phase-out policy<\/a> involving a number of considerations to maximize benefits is therefore noteworthy of attention. Similarly, the recommendation to move forward faster, science-based strategic planning and policy design are key in areas such as implementing<\/a> the \u201c1+N\u201d policy system, promoting clean vehicles and boosting energy efficiency. And, of course, I echo the UN Secretary-General\u2019s call for no new coal power plants, domestically or financed abroad.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s renewable<\/a> energy industry is second to none. This sector is expanding at exponential speed for which China is to be congratulated. With an intensification on the efforts to control and reduce energy demand and with a focus on energy efficiency and with continued focus on acceleration of decarbonization of the high-emitting industry sectors with a clear target of phasing down coal use, China holds the promise of leading the world in demonstrating ambition for climate action<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two, reboot consumption and production.<\/strong>
\nUnsustainable consumption and production are fuel to the fire<\/a> of the three crises, so the CCICED\u2019s taskforce on this issue is important. Even more important is China\u2019s full engagement in finalizing the global deal to end plastic pollution<\/a>. A deal that, by 2024, must be ready to enable the complete redesign of products, packaging and systems. A deal that reduces plastic use, creates the conditions for true circularity and delivers justice for vulnerable communities. We at UNEP applaud China\u2019s 2018 decision no longer to accept imported plastic waste<\/a>. We also recognize that when it comes to plastic pollution, we cannot recycle our way out of the mess of plastic pollution. We need a complete rethink. Numbers indicate that China produces some 30% of the world\u2019s plastic. So there are tremendous opportunities here for Chinese R&D to invest in reinventing the products that we envelope in plastic. Must the products be liquid? Can the products be delivered in dry form? What are the alternative packaging opportunities? There is a new economy ahead to replace plastic and the early bird<\/a> gets the worm. So the CCICED\u2019s recommendation for better guidelines in China on Extended Producer Responsibility, the reuse and recycling of plastic products, and the development of viable alternatives are in line with this reboot.<\/p>\n

Three, implementing the Global Biodiversity<\/a> Framework (GBF).\u202f<\/strong>
\nLet me here start out with congratulating China\u2019s Presidency of COP15 under the able leadership of Minister Huang. Let me also stress that the goals of the GBF are consistent with China\u2019s ideal of ecological civilization. We will delve more into this topic during tomorrow\u2019s Open Forum. Now, let me just say this: wins under the GBF that restore nature\u2019s infrastructure are wins across<\/a> triple planetary crisis. We need to redline protected areas, fulfil the restoration agenda, and finance nature-based solutions<\/a>. I ask China to demonstrate the same drive it showed in getting the GBF agreed to implementing the framework itself.<\/p>\n

Friends,<\/p>\n

The CCICED has much more on its AGM agenda and draft workplan. Reorienting finance and investment to align with the health of the planet. Unlocking the potential of digital transformation. Harnessing the Blue Economy for food<\/a> security, jobs and carbon neutrality.<\/p>\n

What is clear is that the CCICED and UNEP want the same thing: a healthier planet upon which people of all nations live in harmony with nature<\/a> and each other. I look forward to our discussions on how UNEP can support the CCICED and China to make this dream a reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mr. Huang Runqiu, CCICED Chinese Executive Vice Chairperson Minister of Ecology and Environment\u202f Steven Guilbeault, International Executive Vice Chairperson of CCICED, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Canada,\u202f Fellow Vice Chairpersons\u202f Excellencies, colleagues and friends. It is an honour to serve as Vice Chairperson of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8112"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8134,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112\/revisions\/8134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}