Impact X Summit Haikou 2022 – China’s climate growth opportunity: Technology, investment and accelerating pathways to net zero

A recording of these remarks can be found on YouTube and Tencent Video (Note: captions are provided by the organizers)

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I thank the Department of Ecology and Environment of Hainan Province and the organizers for the invitation to address you at the Impact X Summit Haikou 2022.

Climate change remains the existential and moral challenge of our time. Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions are choking our world and devastating lives, economies, public health and food systems.  

More than 3 billion people are affected by ecosystem degradation. Pollution is killing around 9 million people prematurely every year and is putting more than 1 million plant and animal species at risk of extinction – many within decades.  

While climate change is a global phenomenon, its impact on countries and communities is very different. While developing countries have contributed the least to the problem, they are expected to bear the brunt of climate change, threatening to jeopardize many hard-fought development gains.

By 2030, the United Nations Environment Programme estimates that the developing world will have to spend up to 300 billion US Dollar a year just to cope with exacerbated climate impacts.  

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has also warned that without drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, global warming will not be held to the target of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

This is alarming and unacceptable.

We must take immediate and bold action and raise our ambition to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Thankfully, new advances in science and technology hold enormous promise for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Technology is key to addressing environmental degradation and climate change, helping make cities smarter and more sustainable by facilitating new transport systems and improving the management of natural resources.

Ladies and Gentlemen,  

Climate risks are increasing as global warming accelerates. Progress is being made, but it is insufficient, and all countries need to step up.

We cannot afford more delays in phasing out coal and scaling up renewables.

We need to increase action on climate mitigation and adaptation to reach our climate goals and preserve a livable planet. 

We can do this. But only if big polluters urgently deal with their emissions and, crucially, help developing nations leapfrog to cleaner technologies and solutions that slow climate change and help communities adapt. This means realizing the long-delayed promise of 100 billion US Dollar a year in climate finance for developing countries.

And while not a complete answer, we welcome progress on a loss and damage fund reached at the conclusion of COP27. More efforts will be needed to operationalize what is still a much-needed political signal for climate justice.

China, largely because of its size and population, is the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter. This comes with the responsibility to take decisive climate action. However, as the second-largest economy in the world, China also has a significant role to play in global climate action, by sharing its lessons, experiences, and resources with other developing countries through South-South Cooperation.

The United Nations in China is keen to leverage upon China’s international development cooperation efforts and contribute towards advancing progress on critical global agendas, including the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, while adding value, contributing best practices and ensuring compliance to international norms and standards.

The United Nations Country Team in China will continue to provide its best possible technical assistance for the country’s actions toward carbon reduction and green development to combat climate change and environmental degradation. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

The United Nations in China is committed to working closely with the government, private sector, and other partners of China to develop the necessary financial and institutional frameworks to realize its pledge of reaching peak carbon emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.

I want to conclude with the words of the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to the recent High-Level opening of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27): “The global climate fight will be won or lost in this crucial decade – on our watch. One thing is certain: those that give up are sure to lose. So let’s fight together– and let’s win. For the 8 billion members of our human family – and for generations to come.”  

I want to also take this opportunity to commend and thank the leadership of China and the United States for having reengaged in a dialogue to address the climate crisis at COP27. Their combined technology, innovation and knowledge would be the most consequential in addressing the global climate crisis.

I wish you successful deliberations. Thank you.