Dialogue between China’s special envoy on climate change and C40 mayors a great success

Chen Min

O n Sept 10， the CPAFFC and C40， a network of large cities committed to addressing climate change， hosted a virtual meeting between China’s special envoy on climate change and the cities’mayors.

Xie Zhenhua， the special envoy， met with 16 mayors or deputy mayors from 11 countries from around the globe. The dialogue focused on accelerating climate action through international collaboration and building a resilient， inclusive and zero-emission future for all cities.

President Lin Songtian of the CPAFFC delivered a speech at the meeting. He said climate change threatens the existence and development of all people， has become a real global challenge and has to be tackled with global cooperation and effective responses.

President Xi Jinping has declared on behalf of the government and people of China that the country aims to have its CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060， showing China’s responsibility as a major country and its commitment to preserving harmony between man and nature and building a human community with a shared future. It is also China’s proactive strategic choice to achieve sustainable development and the nation’s great rejuvenation.

Chinese cities are working toward the goals set by Xi on carbon emission peaking and carbon neutrality， Lin said. He pledged that his association would play a more active role in connecting major stakeholders， promoting international collaboration， working hand-in-hand in tackling the climate crisis and building a clean and beautiful world with a shared future.

Xie Zhenhua， the special envoy， noted that Xi announced China’s commitment in September 2020 at the 75th session of the UN General Assembly， promising that China will scale up its intended nationally determined contributions by adopting more vigorous policies and measures.

China has established a leadership group to oversee the work on carbon emissions peaking and carbon neutrality， and has made and will soon publish a timetable and road map for top-level plans and implementation measures and policies. Chinese cities will set their own targets and plans that suit local conditions.

According to Xie， cities are most at risk of damage from global climate change and are the major executors of global climate policies. The United Nations Climate Change Conference will soon be held in Glasgow， Scotland， which is the right time to hold the current dialogue meeting to provide mayors from around the world advice on building zero-emission cities， he said， adding that with the participation of the world’s leading cities for action， the meeting had created a great opportunity for mutual learning and dialogue.

Cites have different conditions， sizes and capacity and are in different stages of development， but they share common goals and have adopted similar measures in tackling climate change.

“It is critical to boost international collaboration in coping with climate change and supporting green， lowcarbon and sustainable development，”he said.

Chinese city officials attending the meeting included Wu Xiande of Fuzhou； Luo Dongsheng， executive vice-mayor of Dalian； and Zhang Hua， vice-mayor of Shenzhen. Foreign officials were Abdulla Mohammed Al Basti， secretary general of the Executive Council of Dubai， United Arab Emirates； Adjei Sowah， mayor of Accra， Ghana； Ann Kananu Mwenda， governor of Nairobi， Kenya； Ekrem Imamoglu， mayor of Istanbul， Turkey； Rafael Greca， mayor of Curitiba， Brazil； and Sally Capp， mayor of Melbourne， Australia. The vicemayors of Salvador， Brazil； Venice， Italy； London， United Kingdom； and Portland， Oregon in the United States attended online.

The C40 was started in 2005 by Ken Livingstone， who was mayor of London at the time， and former U.S. President Bill Clinton. It is a US registered international NGO focusing on climate change， with 97 member cities worldwide. Thirteen Chinese cities， including Beijing， Shanghai， Hong Kong， Shenzhen， Dalian and Fuzhou， are members.