Paris. A place recently synonymous with tragedy is now making headlines for an agreement heralded by many as a historic breakthrough in climate change, inked this weekend.
While the accord is testament to the hard work, passion and cooperation of almost 200 countries involved, it is a particularly sweet victory for China, which emerged to take a leading role in the deal, which aims to slash emissions and help reduce the impact of climate change.
Envoys from nearly 200 countries on Saturday approved the landmark climate accord at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21), which stated that global warming should be capped at two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels.
The even more ambitious goal of 1.5 degrees was also put forward as a best case scenario, and possible motivator. The post-2020 agreement marks a shift in global diplomacy on the issue, ending decades of rows between developed and developing nations over how they stave off the effects of climate change. "We had been waiting a long time [for this agreement]. Forty years," French President Francois Hollande told delegates from the 196 Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
China's special representative on climate change Xie Zhenhua called the conference "a crucial point in the global climate governance process." "Although the agreement is not perfect, it does not stop us from moving one historical step forward," Xie said.
China's push for a global climate pact had been on center stage during the two-week talks in Paris, and it emerged as a leading actor. Before the Paris conference, China had already signed a series of bilateral statements on climate change with India, Brazil, the European Union (EU), the United States, France and others. It submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), which details China's reduction targets, to the UNFCCC in June, pledging to peak CO2 emissions by 2030, and reduce CO2 per unit of GDP by 60 to 65 percent from 2005 levels.
In addition, environmental policies feature prominently in the proposal for the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), and even though China is a developing country. It has pledged 20 billion yuan (3.1 billion U.S. dollars) to help other developing countries cope with climate change. While developed countries are obliged to provide money to the climate change fund, China's contribution is voluntary.
President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the Paris conference alongside other world leaders, and held a telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday. Their discussion revolved around the role that the two countries must play to avoid an impasse and ensure that the historic conference would result in an accord as scheduled.
Chinese negotiators were also involved throughout the forging of the landmark deal. In response to reservations posited by certain parties during initial discussions, Chinese, French and U.S. negotiators united to ensure the agreement was adopted. Despite all the environmental challenges it has faced, China has forged ahead and rolled out domestic policies on climate change, regulations that underscore that it takes its global responsibilities seriously, especially when it comes to cutting emissions.
Over the past 20 years, China, one of the world's major sources of greenhouse gases, has emerged as a leader in renewable energy technology, and 52 percent of the world's energy conservation is attributed to China China is driven by the wish to secure a safe, clean future for its own people and the world. A sobering fact, and one that all nations of the world must acknowledge, is that success depends on more than the historic deal itself. Ultimately, it is solid action, rather than ambition alone, that will keep the 2-degree goal in focus. China can be counted on to do everything within its power to ensure that emissions are reduced and everyone can enjoy a better environment.
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