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As more and more countries and partners get involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), not just trade but also climate change needs to be a top priority, California's Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis told CGTN on Thursday. "We very much hope to see that the BRI projects elevate the issue of environmental protection and climate change to the very top of the agenda," Kounalakis said on the sidelines of the Belt and Road CEO conference in Beijing.