Keynote Speech by Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee at Climate Action Week - 2021 Zero Carbon Mission International Climate Summit

He Daguang, Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, Phoenix TV,

Marco Lambertini, Director General, WWF International,

Jia Feng, Director General, Center for Environmental Education and Communications of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment,

John Edwards, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for China, 

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon!

I wish to thank Phoenix Satellite Television and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for organizing this critical forum on the zero-carbon mission in this beautiful building. We are now all in a critical moment of the world as the challenges posed by climate change have been deeply affecting our way of life. As the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted, the “code red for humanity” has struck and we need to act fast to avoid “the point of no return”.

Let me start also by commending and congratulating President Xi Jinping who made clear yesterday in his address to the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly that China will end all financing of coal fired power plants abroad and redirect support for developing countries towards green and low carbon energy. This is most welcome. This is fully in line with China’s commitment for carbon emission to hit a peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. This ambitious goal is already included in China’s 14th Five Year Plan, and I am convinced China’s political will and actions will inspire all governments, businesses, and NGOs convening at COP26 in Glasgow this November.

Climate change is a grave challenge for all of humanity. In this Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the UN in China is in lockstep with the Government of China to realize its ambitious goals of carbon neutrality and to actively engage in international collaboration of zero-carbon targets.

In fact the UN’s Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2021 to 2025 is fully aligned to China’s 14th Five Year plan and its bold vision of protecting people and prosperity, the planet and to advance win win partnerships.

This year is a critical year for China to exemplify its leadership in the fight against climate change. China will host the second UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference in Beijing and the UN Biodiversity conference COP 15 in Kunming. China’s commitment lies in our common vision to build a sustainable and resilient future.  As always, our prosperity depends upon working together to protect people and the planet — and leaving no one behind.

To share China’s lessons and experiences with the developing world, the UN in China will provide full support and readiness to share China’s experiences with developing countries through South-South cooperation. Through partnerships with governments, private sectors, and non-profit organizations, we can help unlock cutting-edge solutions to climate change and realize zero-carbon development. 

I can talk from experiences when I worked in Africa developing partnerships between the UN, the Government of Kenya, and businesses including technology companies Huawei from China and Safaricom from Kenya as well as Merck USA, Philips from the Netherland, GSK from the UK, reduced maternal mortality in some of the highest burden counties and more recently Huawei, the UN and the Government of Kenya have implemented telemedicine projects which are now being scaled up nationwide, and these projects can be replicated globally.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this October will also be the time for the UN and China to celebrate our 50-year relationship. China and the UN will reimagine, innovate, reinvigorate and continue the hard and daily work and dedicate ourselves anew to fight global challenges like climate change and create lasting prosperity for the people of China and all the world.

I look forward to fruitful discussions today.