Distinguished Mr. Chairman, Fellow Members,
I am very pleased to attend the Fifth Meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. Please allow me to take this opportunity to give you an overview of the actions taken by China to implement the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (hereafter called FCCC).
Climate is one of the most important and active elements of the environment as well as an important natural resource. If climate changes significantly, it will produce tremendous global effect on the socio-economic system and natural eco-system. As a result, it will also have various impacts on Chinese social and economic development, and on the improvement of the people's living standard. In this context, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the protection of the environment and global climate.
At the Second World Climate Conference, Prof. Song Jian, State Councillor, pointed out that it is the common interest of the people all over the world to protect the global climate. All countries, including both developed and developing countries, are required to take coordinated actions and carry out close international cooperation and thus help every country and its people make positive contributions on the basis of their capability. With this understanding, China signed the FCCC and has been faithful to its commitments. China has also been actively promoting the implementation of the FCCC in line with the obligations embodied in the FCCC, and will do its utmost to help protect the environment and global climate. In this regard, China, together with other developing countries, will make its due contribution to the implementation of the FCCC in an all-round way.
I. Support and promote the process of the FCCC.
The FCCC is a very important international convention in the field of environment and climate, with its ultimate objective being to achieve the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system; this will ensure that food production is not threatened and will enable economic development in a sustainable manner.
In order to promote the FCCC process, China, as well as other developing countries, made positive contributions to the success of COP I held in Berlin last year and COP Ⅱ held in Geneva this year.
When discussing the issue of strengthening the obligation to the FCCC at COP I, developing countries including India, Brazil and China, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsiblities provided for in the FCCC, submitted a position document which agreed to start the negotiation process of protocols or other legal instruments to define the new commitments of the Annex I Parties to further reduce their emissions beyond the year 2000, and also stressed not to introduce any new commitments for the developing country Parties. It has well reflected the spirit of the FCCC that the developed country Parties shall take the le lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while the emissions by the developing country Parties will continue to increase to meet the need of their social development.
Likewise, when discussing the issue of joint implementation of the FCCC at COP I, developing countries including China, while sticking to principles, took an flexible and practical attitude which facilitated the adoption of the agreement. The agreement requires the establishment of a pilot phase for activities implemented jointly to accumulate experience, in which the non-Annex I Parties may participate on a voluntary basis. To assure that the commitments of developed country Parties under the FCCC shall be completely implemented by themselves, no credits shall accrue to any party as a result of greenhouse gas emissions reduced or sequestered during the pilot phase from activities implemented jointly.
To enhance the capability of the developing countries to address climate change, China submitted a draft resolution on transfer of technology. This was done in accordance with the provision in Article 4, paragraph 5, which states that the developed country Parties and other developed Parties included in Annex II should transfer environmentally sound technologies and know-how to the developing country Parties. It received wide-spread response from the developing country Parties and support from many developed country Parties. The resolution requested that the Secretariat of the FCCC prepare an inventory and know-how conducive to mitigating and adapting climate change, which could be transferred from the developed to the developing country Parties. It was also decided to review, at each session of the Conference of the Parties, the implementation of Article 4, paragraph 5. At COP II, China again submitted a draft resolution, which requested the subsidiary bodies of the FCCC to present a report to assess the result of technology transfer to the developing countries, and requested the developed country Parties report the measures taken for technological transfer in their national communication. This draft resolution was also approved by the Conference.
The FCCC provides that each party should communicate its information related to the implementation, including an inventory of greenhouse gas sources and sinks, a general description of the steps taken or envisaged for implementation, and other information relating to the achievement of the FCCC's objectives as well. According to the FCCC, Annex I Parties should submit the inventory within six months of the entry into force of the FCCC, while non-Annex I parties should submit it within three years of the entry into force of the FCCC or when funds are received in the light of Article 4, Paragraph 3. After COP I decided to develop The Guideline for Preparation of Initial Communications from non-Annex I Parties, China and some other developing countries like India, Brazil and Malaysia, took an active part in preparing the Guidelines. After one year of hard work, the format for the Greenhouse Gas Inventory suitable for the developing countries was formulated. It made a constructive contribution to COP Ⅱ which adopted the Guideline.
II. To implement the strategy of sustainable development, and further strengthen the protection of environment and global climate.
As a developing country, China gives priority to economic development and the promotion of all-round social progress. But, in developing its economy, China attaches great importance to the coordination of economic development, population growth, resources usage and the environment. China has already regarded the implementation of sustainable development as one of the two strategies for long-lasting development in the future. Meanwhile, further strengthening of the protection of environment and global climate has been viewed as one of the key tasks for China in carrying out the strategy of sustainable development. Efforts are being made in many ways discussed below.
1. To implement China's Agenda 21, formulate the departmental action plan, strengthen the protection of the environment and global climate.
For sustainable development, the Chinese government has drawn up China's Agenda 21, and formulated corresponding response strategies based on a series of urgent problems concerning economic development, resources and environment. Such problems include the protection of the atmosphere, the fight against desertification, the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable energy production and consumption, the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, and so forth. For sustainable energy production and consumption a guiding principle that places emphasis on both exploitation and saving has been put forward. We decided to readjust the structure and distribution of energy, to devote major efforts to developing hydroelectricity, to actively explore for oil and natural gas, to develop nuclear power, to exploit new energy and renewable energy on the basis of local condition s, and t improve the rate of energy utilization. No doubt, the implementation of China's Agenda 21 will greatly push China to make more contributions to the protection of the environment and global climate.
In order to implement the strategy of sustainable development embodied in China's Agenda 21, the Ninth-Five Year Plan of China's National Economy and Social Development and the Long-term Outline up to 2010 approved by the Fourth Session of the Eighth National People's Congress this year required that stress be placed on controlling population, saving resources, and protecting the environment when each region and department make their medium and long-term programs. At present, the departments under the State Council are formulating departmental action plans. China's Agenda 21 on Environmental Protection and the Forestry Action Plan have been published, wheresa the Meteorological Action Plan of China's Agenda 21 is still being worked out.
In accordance with the ten response strategies on the environment and development, and the spirit of China's Agenda 21, China's Agenda 21 on Environmental Protection takes slowing down the deterioration of natural ecological environment and achieving sound development within the ecological system as one of its targets in the 21st century. This will help slow down or prevent climate deterioration resulting from the deterioration of the natural ecological environment.
According to China's Agenda 21 and the forestry condition in this country, the Forestry Action Plan of China's Agenda 21 puts forward response strategies concerning the cultivation, protection, and management of forestry, the construction and protection of ecological barriers, and the prevention of desertification, in order to achieve a dramatic improvement in forestry quality and the ecological system. This improvement will enhance forest absorption of greenhouse gases, thus safeguarding and strengthening the sinks and reservoir of greenhouse gases.
Climate influences the social economy and natural ecological environment. For this reason, some chapters of China's Agenda 21, such as those concerning the protection of the atmosphere and sustainable energy production and consumption, raised some requirements. These requirements are to strengthen climate monitoring and prediction, to make assessment of the impacts of climate change on water resource and flood hazard, to strengthen the study of impact of greenhouse gas increase on global and regional climate, and to strengthen the evaluation and zonation of solar and wind energy. In the light of these requirements, response strategies have been formulated in the Meteorological Action Plan of China's Agenda 21.
Since global climate change involves a wide range of aspects, the implementation of the FCCC requires the close coordination of each department concerned. The Meteorological Action Plan of China's Agenda 21 details how to appropriately coordinate the implementation of the FCCC by the National Coordination Group on Climate Change. The Coordination Group will arouse the enthusiasm of each working group and member unit and strengthen the coordination among them.
2. To strengthen the study on climate and climate change, to support scientific basis for the implementation of the FCCC
The scientific evaluation of climate change and the impact of such change is the basis of implementing the FCCC. However, since the climatic system is a complicated one composed of the atmosphere, the ocean, the land, the snow, the ice, and the biosphere, the current climate model can not differentiate the various physical and chemical processes within the climate system (say, the natural carbon cycle process) and the interacting mechanism among the spheres (say, the feedback mechanism of cloud-radiation, the radiation behavior of aerosol). Neither can it clearly distinguish natural climate variation from the influence of human activities, nor can it accurately predict the trend of future climate change. Therefore, a special clause emphasizing research and systematic observation war written down in the FCCC. It is hoped that this will promote the understanding of climate system, improve the accuracy of climate models, and reduce the uncertainties of the evaluation on climate change and its impact.
China attaches great importance to research on climate and climate change. Some important research programs have been carried out during the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, such as the research of climate dynamics and climate prediction theory, the future (20-25 years) change of China's living environment, and the future development trend and research on short-term climate prediction theory and means. China will continue to devote major efforts for research on climate and climate change in the Ninth Five-Year Plan. Among them, research on the short-term climate prediction system, based on identifying the abnormal pattern and predictable signal of China's climate, will develop an operational short-term climate monitoring and prediction system, as well as an assessment system of the impact of the abnormal climate on the national economy. At the same time, the project to supply "hardware" for the shortterm climate prediction system will also be implemented in the Ninth Five-Year Plan period. The strengthening of research on climate and climate change will not only enhance China's ability to monitor climate, predict climate variability, and assess climate change impact, but will also make due contribution to other comprehensive studies of climate change in the world.
During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, China actively organized a research series on the impact and the response strategies to address climate change. The viewpoint that everything has its good and bad sides was applied in the research. We analyzed both the positive and negative impact of climate change, put forward response strategies to make use of the positive while avoiding the negative impacts, and laid a solid theoretic foundation for the future to adjust to the trend of exploitation and utilization of natural resources, such as the transformation of agricultural layout and planting structure.
3. To Strengthen monitoring and validation of climate and climate change, to enhance the understanding of global climate change.
Preparation for the establishment of the Chinese Committee for the Global Climate Observing System is underway. As mentioned above, the climate system is a complicated system composed of the atmosphere, the water, the biosphere, the lithosphere, the snow and the ice. However, the current observing systems, such as the World Weather Watch, the Global Atmospheric Watch, the Global Ocean Observing System, and the Global Environment Monitoring System, were all designed for observing some special phenomenon in certain spheres within the climate system. But they are not systematic. They cannot meet the practical demand for monitoring, detection and prediction of the global climate and its changes. Therefore, the international organizations concerned developed the Global Climate Observing System to strengthen the linkages, coordination and integration among the existing systems. By coordinating activities such as atmospheric sounding, ocean observing and environment monitoring, hydrology monitoring and landmass ecological system, it would be possible to monitor the whole climate system. China has given positive support to this great and challenging international program. We not only sent experts to participate in the activities of Joint Scientific and Technical Committee of the Global Climate Observing System, but also plan to establish the Chinese Committee for the Global Climate Observing System. During last year, the plan to establish this inter-departmental committee was drafted and discussed several times.
Meanwhile, China is organizing the Scientific Experiment on the Tibetan Plateau and Chinese GEWEX Program -- Huaihe River Experiment. These surveys and experiments, aimed at understanding the key components and important physical and chemical processes in climate systems, will surely make new contributions to the reduction of the existing uncertainties of climate and climate change, and increase the understanding of both the global climate system and the law of regional climate change.
Respected Mr. chairman, and members,
To achieve the objective of the FCCC, international society need cooperation and coordination. China will continue to strengthen international cooperation in the field of climate change. Comprehensive multilateral and bilateral cooperation and exchanges will be carried out in order to promote the protection of the environment and global climate, and to achieve the ultimate objective of the FCCC.
To achieve the objective of the FCCC also requires each country to take practical measures in accordance with their common but differentiated responsiblity and within their respective capability. When Chinese President Jiang Zemin met with Ms. Dodeswell, Executive Director of UNEP, on 10 May 1996, he said that if the environment problem was solved in China, it would be a great contribution to the global solution of the environment problem. We will, as always, fulfill our international responsibilities and obligations in a serious manner. We will take practical and effective measures, and do our best to implement the FCCC.
Thank you.