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China envoy: Upcoming ministerial-level negotiations at COP26 'arduous'
Updated 21:09, 09-Nov-2021
CGTN
00:30

The ministerial-level negotiations during the second week of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) will become arduous as ministers will seek a consensus on key issues at the political level, said China Special Envoy for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua on Monday. 

The Paris Agreement's goal to "limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels" has already built a consensus among countries and China hopes resetting the goal won't cause disputes and delay the pressing issues, Xie said in an interview with China Media Group (CMG).

When attending a press conference on Saturday, he also stressed that China is not opposed to the target of 1.5 degrees Celsius, but targets and slogans are not enough.

China has take concrete actions towards the goal with various policies, timetables and roadmaps, and China will deliver on its words, he said, referring to China's aims to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

China is still in the development stage, but the country has significantly reduced its peak carbon emissions, he said.

He also criticised the previous U.S. administration's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement for delaying the global multilateral process on climate change by five years, urging the U.S. to catch up and make joint efforts. 

"The reasons for climate change and global warming are mainly historical seasons for the disorderly emissions of developed countries in the process of industrialization and urbanization. This is a consensus," he said.

"Therefore, the Paris Agreement requires developed countries to take the lead in reducing emissions and they should provide support to developing countries", he noted.

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