China to contribute more during IPCC seventh assessment cycle

The 60th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was held from January 16 to 19 in Istanbul, Türkiye, with China promising to increase its work on the climate change issue.

In deliberations during the four-day meeting, governments agreed to produce three Working Group contributions to the Seventh Assessment Report: one on the physical science relating to climate change; one on adaptation and vulnerability; and one on mitigation.

Xiong Shaoyuan, deputy director of China Meteorological Administration led the Chinese delegation. It also included representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Xiong said after the meeting that China has always attached great importance to addressing climate change, considering it as an inherent requirement for achieving its own sustainable development, and for fulfilling its global responsibilities.

He said there has been "positive progress" in both mitigation and adaptation to climate change. 

"The Chinese government actively responds to the United Nations' Action for Climate Empowerment initiative and conducts in-depth research on early warning of climate change," he said. "Through various measures, China is promoting the construction of a fair, reasonable, and win-win global climate governance system."

Xiong also said that China will further enhance its contributions during the IPCC's Seventh Assessment cycle.

"China will actively contribute to the perspectives, achievements, and experiences of Chinese scientists in climate change research to the international community, providing technological support for actively addressing global climate change and building a community with a shared future for mankind," Xiong said.

He added that China is willing to work together with developing countries, countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, and others to provide more comprehensive and integrated scientific information for addressing climate change.