Eco Forum Global highlights China’s contribution to harmony between man, nature- China.org.cn

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This photo taken on July 9, 2023 shows the closing ceremony of the Eco Forum Global Guiyang 2023 in Guiyang, southwest China’s Guizhou Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

During the two-day-long Eco Forum Global Guiyang 2023, which concluded Sunday at the capital of southwest China’s Guizhou Province, participants spoke highly of China’s contribution to the global cause of promoting ecological conservation and green development.

“We are facing a global climate emergency amid a time when countries are still addressing and rebounding from the socio-economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic,” James George, deputy resident representative of the United Nations Development Programme in China, told Xinhua in an interview.

More efforts must be made to maintain the harmony between humanity and nature to realize the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for a better future for both people and the planet, he added.

Talking about China’s efforts in ecological conservation, he noted that “China’s efforts in utilizing spatial planning to safeguard and protect key ecological function zones and fragile areas have helped improve the living environment for communities and promote biodiversity conservation.”

“This is one of the lessons that could be shared with other countries in the world for strengthening conservation efforts,” he noted.

During the event, Tamas Hajba, senior advisor for China and head of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Beijing Office, told Xinhua that China’s role in tackling climate change and low-carbon transition is very important.

China has a lot of experiences and a lot to share with the world. It is a leading country in terms of the application of renewable energy in the world, Hajba noted.

“More importantly, China has managed to bring down the prices of renewable energies, in other words, to commercialize renewable energies much faster and much earlier than other countries,” he added.

In 2022, China’s renewable energy generation was equivalent to a reduction of 2.26 billion tonnes of domestic carbon dioxide emissions. Its wind power and photovoltaic product exports helped other countries reduce emissions by approximately 573 million tonnes.

The two figures added up to 2.83 billion tonnes of emissions, or about 41 percent of the world’s total carbon emissions reduction converted from renewable energy, data from the National Energy Administration showed.

A firm practitioner for ecological conservation and a pilot in green development, China has also actively shared experiences and cooperated with countries globally to facilitate the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.

Pakistan’s Karot hydropower project epitomizes China’s global cooperation in promoting sustainable development.

The station, constructed by the China Three Gorges Corporation, can generate electricity to meet the daily power demand of about 5 million people while saving around 1.4 million tonnes of standard coal each year.

In an interview with Xinhua, Mostak Ahamed Galib, executive director of the cross-cultural communication and Belt and Road Initiative research center at the Wuhan University of Technology, hailed the China-built Padma multipurpose bridge in Bangladesh.

“Affected by rising sea level and tropical cyclones, which are heavily linked with global climate change, people’s livelihoods in some parts of southwestern Bangladesh significantly deteriorated due to problems including land salinization,” he said.

“The bridge has brought opportunities and new hope to people living in these areas by greatly shortening the trip to the country’s capital city,” he noted. With convenient transportation, thousands of domestic and foreign tourists have come to see coastal mangrove tigers in local forests.

This boosted tourism, increased the income of local residents and raised the awareness of biodiversity conservation, making people better understand how to live harmoniously with nature, he commended.

China is playing a critical role globally in terms of green development and green technology, Yanga Viwe Socikwa, a national community member of the Young Communist League of South Africa, said in an interview at the forum.

He hoped to apply China’s strategies and tactics in the context of his own country and advance projects that balance environmental protection and economic growth, such as the transformation of coal mines.

Tu Ruihe, head of the UN Environment Programme China Office, expected China to continue to support international multilateral cooperation and lead global environmental governance with more active and pragmatic actions to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

“We hope that China will share experiences in the fields of low-carbon transformation, green development, environmental protection, and ecological restoration, and support developing countries in green transformation,” he said in a keynote speech at the forum. 

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EU faces a cliffhanger climate vote after its parliament emerged deadlocked on a key nature bill

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BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is facing a cliffhanger vote next month that will test its global climate and environmental credentials, after its parliament was again deadlocked on pushing a nature restoration bill onwards on Tuesday.

The legislature’s environment committee emerged deadlocked at 44-44 on the plan to beef up the restoration of nature in the 27-nation bloc that was damaged during decades of industrial expansion. It means the full parliament will be asked to reject it.

“The fight is not over. We will do our utmost to rally forces throughout the hemicycle behind an ambitious law to the benefit of people and the planet,” said socialist S&D legislator Mohammed Chahim.

Tony Estanguet won gold medals for canoeing in the 2000, 2004 and 2012 Olympic Games. Now, the trim 45-year-old is the face and chief organizer of the 2024 Paris Games.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends the cabinet meeting of the German government at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is insisting that right-wing populism won’t gain the upper hand in his country, days after a far-right party won control of a county administration for the first time since the Nazi era.

FILE - An offshore wind farm is visible from the beach in Hartlepool, England, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019. The U.K. government's climate advisers on Wednesday slammed officials for their slow pace of action in meeting their “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions target and backtracking on fossil fuel commitments, saying Britain has “lost its clear global leadership position on climate action." (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

The U.K. government’s climate advisers have slammed officials for their slow pace in meeting their net zero target and backtracking on fossil fuel commitments.

FILE - Activists hold up banners in both English and Maltese reading, 'I decide', 'Abortion is a woman's right', and 'Abortion is healthcare, not a crime', as they stand outside the Maltese law courts in Valletta, Malta, Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Maltese lawmakers are expected to vote Wednesday, June 28, 2023 on landmark legislation to ease the the strictest abortion laws in the European Union. But a coalition of pro-choice campaigners say last-minute changes make the legislation “vague, unworkable and even dangerous.” (AP Photo/Kevin Schembri Orland, File)

Maltese lawmakers have unanimously approved legislation to ease the the strictest abortion laws in the European Union.

The parliament’s biggest group, the Christian Democrat EPP, has turned against the plan, arguing it is bad for embattled farmers and puts food security at risk at a time when the war in Ukraine has shown that strategic autonomy on foodstuffs can be essential.

The bill is a key part of the EU’s vaunted European Green Deal that seeks to set the globe’s best climate and biodiversity targets and make the bloc the point of reference on all climate issues. The plans proposed by the EU’s executive commission set binding restoration targets for specific habitats and species, with the aim by 2030 to cover at least 20% of the region’s land and sea areas.

The EU’s executive commission wants the nature restoration law to be a key part of the system since it is necessary for the overall deal to have the maximum input. Others also say that if the EU fails on the nature restoration law, it will be indicative of an overall fatigue when it comes to climate issues.

The Green Deal includes a wide range of measures, from reducing energy consumption to sharply cutting transportation emissions and reforming the EU’s trading system for greenhouse gases.

Last week, the EU governments already backed the plan but if the parliament rejects it at its June 101-13 plenary session, the bill would have to be fully reworked, and in essence, diluted at a time when scientists and international institutions like the United Nations call for extra efforts, not fewer.

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Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment



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Biodiversity talks open as UN chief calls for ‘peace pact’ with nature

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“SIGNIFICANT RESISTANCE”

Draft targets for the 10-year framework include a cornerstone pledge to protect 30 per cent of the world’s land and seas by 2030, eliminating harmful fishing and agriculture subsidies and tackling invasive species and reducing pesticides.

Finance is among the most divisive issues, as developing nations are demanding increased funding for conservation.

Earlier this year, a coalition of nations called for wealthy countries to provide at least US$100 billion annually – rising to US$700 billion a year by 2030 – for biodiversity.

Guterres told AFP: “It must be recognized that without a significant mobilization of funding, of various origins but with a substantial volume, developing countries will not be able to meet the requirements of biodiversity conservation.

“It should not be forgotten that most of the world’s biodiversity wealth exists in developing countries.”

The sticky issue of biopiracy is also causing roadblocks, as many mainly African countries demand that wealthy nations share the benefits of ingredients and formulas used in cosmetics and medicines derived from the Global South.

Implementation has emerged as another sticking point in recent days, with disagreements over how to ensure any final deal is put into practice – unlike its predecessor agreed in 2010.

“FLEXIBILITY, COMPROMISE, CONSENSUS”

The meeting, delayed two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, follows crucial climate change talks in Egypt last month that ended with little headway on reducing emissions and scaling down the use of planet-warming fossil fuels.

China is chair, though it is being hosted in Canada because of Beijing’s long-standing zero-COVID policy.

NGOs say the lack of world leaders at COP15 risks dampening momentum at the talks and could scupper an ambitious settlement.

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Twin crises: Experts say nature and climate cannot be siloed

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PARIS: Experts and activists were hoping UN climate talks would end last week with a prominent mention of biodiversity in the final text. They walked away disappointed.

Some say delegates at the COP27 summit missed a key opportunity to acknowledge the connection between the twin climate and nature crises, which many believe have been treated separately for too long.

Failing to address both could mean not only further decimating Earth’s life support systems, but also missing the key climate target of limiting warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius, they warn.

“We’re doomed if we don’t solve climate, and we’re doomed if we don’t solve biodiversity,” Basile van Havre, co-chair of the UN biodiversity negotiations, told AFP.

At the COP15 UN biodiversity talks next month, dozens of countries will meet to hammer out a new framework to protect animals and plants from destruction by humans.

The meeting comes as scientists warn that climate change and biodiversity damage could cause the world’s sixth mass extinction event.

Such destruction of nature also risks worsening climate change.

The oceans have absorbed most of the excess heat created by humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions and, along with forests, are important carbon sinks.

“(Nature) is up to a third of the climate solution. And it is a proven technology,” Brian O’Donnell, director of Campaign for Nature, told AFP.

He said oceans in particular are unsung “superheroes”, which have absorbed carbon and heat, at the cost of acidification and coral-killing heatwaves.

As the world warms, species and ecosystems can also play a crucial role in building resilience. Mangroves, for example, can protect against coastal erosion caused by rising seas linked to a warming planet.

“MISSED OPPORTUNITY”

Perhaps the most attention on the natural world at COP27 came during a visit by Brazil’s president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will take office in January.

He has vowed to halt the rampant deforestation of the Amazon seen under incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and announced during the climate talks plans to create a ministry for indigenous people, custodians of the rainforest.

The crucial “30 by 30” biodiversity target also got a boost when a bloc of West African nations vowed to adhere to the goal of protecting 30 per cent of the natural world by 2030.

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