Xi Jinping: China will strictly control coal power projects

It's a pleasure to be here at the Leaders' Climate Summit on Earth Day, and thank President Biden for the invitation. I would like to take this opportunity to have an in-depth exchange of views with you on the issue of climate change, discuss strategies to address the challenges of climate change, and seek a way for people and nature to live in harmony.

Since mankind entered the era of industrial civilization, while creating huge material wealth, it has also accelerated the seizure of natural resources, broken the balance of the earth's ecosystem, and the deep-seated contradictions between man and nature have become increasingly apparent. In recent years, climate change, biodiversity loss, desertification and extreme weather events have brought severe challenges to human survival and development. The continued spread of the novel coronavirus pneumonia has made the economic and social development of various countries even worse. In the face of unprecedented difficulties in global environmental governance, the international community should take unprecedented ambition and action, have the courage to take responsibility, and work together to build a community of life for man and nature.

-- Adhere to the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. "To each his own harmony to live, to each his own nourishment." Nature is the cradle of all living things, including human beings, and is the basic condition for the survival and development of human beings. Nature has nurtured human beings, and human beings should take nature as their roots, respect, conform to and protect nature. If you don't respect nature and go against the laws of nature, you will only be retaliated by nature. Nature has been systematically destroyed, and human survival and development have become water without a source and a tree without roots. We need to protect nature and the ecological environment like protecting our eyes, and promote the formation of a new pattern of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

– Adhere to green development. Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. It is a simple truth that to protect the ecological environment is to protect the productive forces, and to improve the ecological environment is to develop the productive forces. We must abandon the development model that harms or even destroys the ecological environment, and the short-sighted practice of sacrificing the environment for temporary development. It is necessary to conform to the general direction of the contemporary scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, seize the huge development opportunities brought by the green transformation, and vigorously promote the transformation and upgrading of the economy, energy and industrial structure driven by innovation, so that a good ecological environment can become the support for the sustainable development of the global economy and society.

-- Adhere to system governance. Mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sands are inseparable ecosystems. To protect the ecological environment, we must not treat headaches and foot pains. We should consider all elements of the natural ecology in accordance with the internal laws of the ecosystem, so as to achieve the goal of enhancing the circulation capacity of the ecosystem and maintaining the ecological balance.

——Adhere to people-oriented. We must fully consider the aspirations of the people of all countries for a better life, their expectations for a better environment, and their responsibilities to future generations, explore synergies between environmental protection and economic development, job creation, and poverty eradication, and strive to achieve social fairness and justice in the process of green transformation, so as to increase people's sense of gain, happiness and security.

– Upholding multilateralism. We need to uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core, follow the goals and principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement, and strive to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Strengthen our own actions, deepen partnerships, enhance the level of cooperation, and learn from each other in the new journey of achieving global carbon neutrality. Work together, don't point fingers at each other; Be persevering, don't change the order overnight; Keep your promises, and don't keep your word.

China welcomes the US return to the multilateral climate governance process. China and the United States have just jointly issued the Joint Statement on Addressing the Climate Crisis, and China looks forward to working with the international community, including the United States, to advance global environmental governance.

-- Adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is the cornerstone of global climate governance. Developing countries are facing multiple challenges, such as fighting the pandemic, developing their economies, and tackling climate change. We should fully affirm the contribution of developing countries in addressing climate change and take care of their special difficulties and concerns. Developed countries should show greater ambition and action, and at the same time earnestly help developing countries improve their capacity and resilience to cope with climate change, provide financial, technological and capacity-building support to developing countries, avoid setting up green trade barriers, and help them accelerate their green and low-carbon transition.

Dear colleagues,

Chinese civilization has always advocated the unity of man and nature, the Tao of nature, and the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. China has written the concept of ecological civilization and the construction of ecological civilization into the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, and incorporated it into the overall layout of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Guided by the idea of ecological civilization, China implements the new development concept, takes the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development as the guide, and takes the green and low-carbon development of energy as the key, and adheres to the development path of ecological priority and green and low-carbon.

Last year, I officially announced that China will strive to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. This is a major strategic decision made by China based on its responsibility to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and the intrinsic requirements of achieving sustainable development. China's commitment to achieving carbon neutrality is much shorter than the time taken by developed countries, and it will require China's hard work. China has incorporated carbon peaking and carbon neutrality into the overall layout of ecological civilization construction, and is formulating an action plan for carbon peaking, carrying out extensive and in-depth carbon peaking actions, and supporting qualified localities, key industries and key enterprises to take the lead in peaking. China will strictly control coal power projects, and the growth of coal consumption will be strictly controlled during the 14th Five-Year Plan period and gradually reduced during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. In addition, China has decided to accept the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, strengthen the control of non-CO2 greenhouse gases, and will launch the national carbon market for online trading.

As a participant, contributor and leader in the construction of global ecological civilization, China firmly practices multilateralism and strives to promote the building of a fair, reasonable and win-win global environmental governance system. China will host the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October this year, work with all parties to push global biodiversity governance to a new level, and support the positive outcome of the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Adhering to the concept of "teaching people to fish", China has done its best to help developing countries improve their ability to cope with climate change through various forms of South-South practical cooperation. From climate remote sensing satellites in Africa, to low-carbon demonstration zones in Southeast Asia, to energy-saving lamps in small island states, the results of China's South-South cooperation on climate change are visible, tangible and effective. China has also made cooperation in the field of ecological civilization a key part of the Belt and Road Initiative, and has launched a series of green action initiatives, including green infrastructure, green energy, green transportation and green finance, to continue to benefit the people of all countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Dear colleagues,

"If you don't have the strength of all the people, you can't do it." The challenges posed by climate change to humanity are real, acute and long-term. However, I firmly believe that as long as we think in one place, work hard in one place, and help each other, mankind will be able to cope with global climate and environmental challenges and leave a clean and beautiful world to future generations.

Thank you.