Beijing News (Reporter Xie Lian) "Achieve 'carbon peak' before 2030 and 'carbon neutrality' before 2060, China, as the world's largest developing country, faces very great strategic opportunities and also faces major challenges." On May 17, Zhu Guangyao, former vice minister of the Ministry of Finance and consultant of the State Council, pointed out at the seminar on "Responding to Climate Change: China's Opportunities and Challenges" held by the Globalization Think Tank (CCG).
On May 17, Zhu Guangyao, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance, attended a seminar on “Responding to Climate Change: China’s Opportunities and Challenges” in Beijing. /CCG provided by
China's "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality" intervals are shorter than those of Europe and the United States
Zhu Guangyao pointed out that in September last year, against the special background of the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, President Xi Jinping made a solemn commitment to the world that China should achieve "carbon peak" by 2030 and "carbon neutrality" by 2060. This is a great green revolution, which is related to the common interests of all countries and people in the world.
According to Zhu Guangyao, the time for developed countries such as Europe and the United States to reach carbon peaks is around 1990s to 2000, and the goal of "carbon neutrality" is 2050, and the interval between the two is about 50-60 years. However, the time interval between China's "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality" goals is only 30 years, so this challenge is very difficult.
: To achieve "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality" face three opportunities and challenges
Comprehensively, Zhu Guangyao believes that China mainly faces three opportunities and challenges in responding to climate change.
First of all, under the green revolution, the global economic structure will undergo revolutionary changes. But China is still the world's largest developing country today and needs to balance the relationship between economic growth and emission reduction.
Zhu Guangyao said that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, on the one hand, we must adhere to high-quality development and significantly reduce carbon emissions, which means that the average energy consumption per unit GDP will drop by 13.5%, and carbon dioxide emissions will drop by 18%. On the other hand, we must maintain the level of an average annual economic growth of 5%, so as to overcome the middle-income trap and enter the ranks of high-income countries. By 2035, China will basically achieve socialist modernization, and then per capita GDP will reach US$20,000, which means that it will maintain an average annual economic growth level of 4.73%. This is very challenging.
Secondly, while reducing "carbon emissions", we must deal with national security issues and ensure the stability of China's economy and society.
He pointed out that China is still in a period of strategic opportunity for development, but the external environment it faces is very complex and severe. Some anti-China politicians have made accusations from nothing about China's ban on exports of cotton in Xinjiang, and some are advocating the ban on exports of solar products produced in China's Xinjiang region. "This is a completely malicious rumor, an attempt to contain China's development, and a serious destruction of global cooperation in addressing the challenges of climate change."
The third biggest challenge is the adjustment and development of governance rules related to the global governance system and the global governance system.
Zhu Guangyao pointed out that in recent years, efforts have been made to promote environmental, social and global governance on a global scale, and some rules have been formulated to improve the level of governance - regarding ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance), more than 200 institutions around the world have formulated more than 600 guiding rules. However, these rules focus on specific areas and are not enforceable.
Starting in 2018, the International Financial Reporting Standards Council IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) began to discuss the formulation of a unified, comparable, enforceable global standards related to international environment, society and governance, but progress was very slow, mainly because the Trump administration in the United States insisted on unilateralism and was negative about this.
By the beginning of this year, this situation changed. First, the US Securities and Exchange Commission changed its attitude and began to actively support the formulation of global ESG standards. US Treasury Secretary Yellen also recently stated that the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Securities Regulatory Commission will work together to promote negotiations on international sustainable standards. Secondly, there have been changes at the international level. The Financial Stability Committee under the G20 also recently stated that it supports the promotion of global sustainable standards.
From China's perspective, China has always supported the formulation of sustainable development standards. Zhu Guangyao said, "On April 26, the International Financial Reporting Standards Committee held the latest meeting of trustees. Because I am a Chinese trustee, I also attended the meeting. This meeting formed a consensus that the committee on global sustainable standards negotiations was officially established during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November this year."
According to him, the committee will be composed of 14 people, including three places in Asia and Oceania, three places in the Americas, three places in Europe, and one in Africa. In addition, four places in professionals were allocated. The basic personnel composition has reached a consensus and will be announced in November this year.
Zhu Guangyao emphasized, "The formulation of new rules is imminent, and the starting time is clear." "If we return to China, we should adhere to high-quality development under the guidance of the new development concept - innovation, coordination, green, open and sharing, actively participate in global governance, actively participate in negotiations on international sustainable standards, and enhance China's influence; at the same time, we should closely coordinate with countries around the world to jointly respond to the challenges of global climate change and contribute to global governance."
Beijing News reporter Xie Lian
Editor Zhang Lei Proofreader Li Lijun
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