Other players should mobilize even greater efforts in delivering on their promises

Bringing global stakeholders together at a negotiation table to discuss how to cope with climate change is similar to a pilgrimage.

In addition to rounds of talks on technical details involving United Nations members every year, milestone pacts have been agreed in New York, Rio de Janeiro, Kyoto, Durban, Bali, Copenhagen and Paris, among other places, since the 1990s, with global leaders showing their political will.

April 22 will see another step taken in this hard exercise when politicians attend a UN ceremony for the signing of the Paris Climate Change Agreement in New York. The deal aims to keep the temperature rise below an average of 2 C, as agreed by global negotiators late last year.

President Xi Jinping will send his envoy, Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli, to the event. Zhang spoke at the UN climate summit in New York in September 2014, when the international community was looking to reach a binding deal.

Zhang's appearance at these major events is a signal of Beijing's readiness to become a responsible leader in helping to set the rules of global governance, ironing out the differences between global stakeholders and finding synergies, as well as delivering the commitments it has made.

Since the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009, the international media organizations have often questioned China's conviction in dealing with climate change. They have also argued that developed economies are falling short in transferring financial means and technologies to help poor countries achieve sustainable development, as well as having emitted greenhouse gases irresponsibly during their industrialization.

China, as a developing nation, has shown its consistent seriousness in joining global climate efforts. In 1992, Li Peng, the premier at the time, signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Rio de Janeiro, while another former premier, Wen Jiabao, pushed global talks in Copenhagen in 2009.

Since Xi took office as president in 2013, the country has become even more active in solving global challenges by offering win-win and cooperative solutions.

On the climate front, China has invested ample political capital. In addition to bilateral commitments with the European Union, France, the United Kingdom and India, it is worth noting that Xi and US President Barack Obama have made three climate change declarations in the past three years, a phenomenal gesture that the two biggest economies are on the same page on this critical challenge.

Such efforts between China and the United States and other global players have helped pave the way to the Paris Climate Change Agreement, scheduled to take effect in 2020.

On April 22, China and the US will once again take the lead by signing this agreement, which will come into force after the 55 countries that account for at least 55 percent of global emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification.

Thanks to the efforts of China and the US, the UN says the process of signatures and ratification will become faster and that it is likely that the agreement will become effective in 2018, two years ahead of schedule.

However, this is easier said than done. For global players, it is a challenge to turn words into action.

Again, China has set an example with urgent domestic communication and policy shifts in recent years, complementing its global pro-active stance.

A typical example is the central government putting green development high on its overarching agenda for the coming years. China has also made a historic commitment to realize a peak in carbon emissions around 2030.

Surely, other players should mobilize even greater efforts in delivering on their promises. For example, the rich countries decided in Paris that they would work to define a clear roadmap on ratcheting up climate finance to $100 billion by 2020.

Frankly, they have basically eaten their words since Copenhagen, and there is a risk rich countries will face a "lost decade" in transferring their climate aid to poor countries.

When global leaders meet again in New York on Earth Day, this is something to confess.

The author is deputy editor of China Daily European Edition. Contact the writer at fujing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 04/22/2016 page12)