China's moves on climate change can play key role in helping ensure planet's future

Six years ago I was covering the unsuccessful United Nations climate summit held in Copenhagen, and I saw first-hand how China's image was tarnished, even though it had been making continual efforts to help achieve a global deal.

Countries have been drumming up their efforts to reach a deal on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Paris in a few weeks, and it is worth taking stock of how much better China has prepared itself in the years between the two sets of talks.

In my view, in the past six years China has developed green awareness, improved institutional arrangements, better low-carbon commitments and active participation in conjunction with other countries. With such dramatic changes, China will be in a better position to help promote an agreement in Paris.

Since the late 1970s, when China launched its reform and opening-up policy, and until recently, the country's overarching strategy has been "development is the unyielding principle", which resulted in decades-long fast economic growth, but at the cost of severe environmental pollution and wasteful energy consumption.

Since the change in leadership in 2012, the move away from this strategy has been accelerated.

The leadership has been promoting the understanding that ecological civilization and building a beautiful China are an important part of realizing the Chinese dream of rejuvenating the nation. This has started to guide China's economic activities, and been embodied in the concept of the economic new normal.

To turn concepts into actions, China has been beefing up its efforts to build a legal framework to strengthen its environmental protection. For example, leading officials at various levels are required to accept environment and natural resources auditing when they leave their positions.

And after laws related to fighting air and water pollution and realizing a circular economy, China's law-making body is also drafting a law on climate change prevention, which should be another milestone in the country's environmental protection. But what is most encouraging is that China has pledged to realize a peak in its carbon emissions by 2030 by improving energy efficiency and increasing the ratio of renewable energy in its total energy mix, which is targeted at 15 percent by 2020 and 20 percent by 2030.

It has also pledged to lower carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60 to 65 percent from the 2005 level by 2030.

In its efforts to turn greener, China has also quickened the pace of trying to usher in a nationwide cap-and-trade emission system by 2017, and a carbon emission trade system is being piloted in some regions.

And unsurprisingly, China, which has been powered mainly by coal for years, saw its consumption of coal decline last year for the first time, mainly as a result of better energy efficiency and economic restructuring.

Along with these domestic actions, China has spared no effort on the bilateral and international levels. Since last year, President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama have twice made presidential announcements about contributions aimed at making Paris a success. China and the European Union announced joint commitments and actions in June as well.

Meanwhile, China has pledged to be more active in South-South collaboration, and has followed through on that. It has done so by putting greater emphasis on sustainability, and it has been coordinating with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, its partners in BRICS, which take a similar approach to climate change.

In all, China has taken action on the issue that aims to improve the institutional and legal framework, transform the way growth is achieved, bring lifestyle changes and at the same time demonstrate its desire to be a responsible global citizen.

Being well prepared, China, with other countries, regions and organizations, should be able to produce at least one thing in Paris that was missing in Copenhagen: fruitful talks that can help ensure the planet's future.

The author is China Daily chief correspondent in Brussels. Contact the writer at fujing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 11/06/2015 page13)