Representatives from Chinese and European companies are looking for more ways to cooperate on climate change, as they aim to achieve their respective carbon neutrality goals. They shared their views on how to promote green, low-carbon and sustainable development at the China-Europe Cooperation Partnership Dialogue in Beijing on Tuesday. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：July 14, 2021

Cooperation was the main area of discussion at a forum of Chinese and European financial leaders on Thursday, where they debated ways to fight climate change through sustainable finance.  Europe and China have both set ambitious climate targets for the coming decades, and acknowledge that collaboration will be necessary to reach those goals.   "A robust partnership between China and the EU will help translate our complementary leverages in the green economy into a promising future," said Bank of China President Liu Jin. "In cooperation on the green economy, the financial sector will undoubtedly play an important role." Speaking at the China-EU Green Economic Cooperation Summit, Liu outlined three main ways the financial sector could be utilized to tackle climate change. He said more funding should go to sectors that contribute to low-carbon transition, such as clean energy and new low-carbon technologies.   China has already invested trillions towards this effort as it aims to reach a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Europe is also investing heavily in its green transition, with a third of its $890 billion COVID-19 recovery fund earmarked for green initiatives.   "The pandemic has worked as a catalyst for the green and sustainable transition. And we are now encouraged in Europe to build forward better," said Pierre Gramegna, the finance minister of Luxembourg.   Some experts called for more connectivity between China and Europe's carbon markets, which address climate change by putting a price on the harmful emission, often helping to redirect resources into cheaper, low-carbon options.   Europe is a global leader on this front, with the world's first and largest emissions trading system. China has tested several pilot programs and is now trying to get a national scheme off the ground. Once it launches, it will be one of the largest in the world. This provides an opportunity for collaboration and a sharing of expertise.   Liu said the EU and China could also team up to set the global standard for green governance and financing. On Tuesday, the European Commission proposed a new European Green Bond Standard to funnel money into climate-friendly projects as it strives to hit net zero emissions.  Green bonds are exploding and are now a trillion-dollar market. But at only 2 to 4 percent of total bond issuance, there is a lot of room left to grow. Establishing a "gold standard" for companies to raise funds could help avoid "greenwashing" – when companies or projects claim to be greener than they are in reality. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：July 9, 2021

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday highlighted China's support for the United Nations (UN) and the country's contributions to the organization in peacekeeping, poverty reduction and climate change at a forum to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the resumption of its membership of the world body.  On October 25, 1971, the 26th UN General Assembly adopted resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority of votes, restoring all the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China at the UN and recognizing the representatives of its government as the only legitimate representative of China at the UN.  As the world's largest developing country and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China always honors the purposes and principles of the UN charter and promotes the spirit of multilateralism, Wang told the forum.  Guardian of international order Over the past 50 years, many Chinese people have been involved in UN undertakings and have witnessed, participated in and contributed to China's cooperation with the UN, Wang said. He said China has set a good example in upholding the international order and is committed to democracy, the rule of law and equity in international relations.   China proposed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence as early as in the 1950s and has since faithfully observed them, contributing significantly to the formulation of the basic norms governing international relations, Wang said According to Wang, since China resumed its membership of the UN, China has become a firm defender of international order which took part in almost every inter-governmental organization and signed more than 600 international treaties. China has firmly safeguarded the UN-centered international system, upheld the international order underpinned by international law and bolstered the central role of UN in international affairs, he stressed. Defender of world peace China has honored its responsibility for safeguarding world peace, said the foreign minister.  Having participated in 29 UN peacekeeping missions and sent a total of over 5,000 peacekeepers, China has become the largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping operation among the permanent members of the Security Council, he elaborated, adding that "we are also the second largest funding contributor to the UN and UN peacekeeping operation."  So far, 24 Chinese military and police officers have given their lives in the line of duty, Wang said, adding that their sacrifice will always be remembered.  China also set up an 8,000-troop peacekeeping standby force and a police squad of 300 for UN peacekeeping missions, he introduced. Promoter of common development Wang highlighted China's achievement in poverty alleviation in this regard. He pointed out that, China, as the biggest developing country in the world, has met the poverty eradication target set in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule. And as the world's second largest economy, China's contribution to world economic growth remains the highest, Wang added, stating that China has worked to foster greater synergy between its own development strategy and those of the rest of the world. Contributor to tackling global challenges Speaking of the issue, Wang reiterated that China's determination to work jointly with the international community in tackling global challenges such as the climate change and COVID-19 outbreak. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced last September at the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly that China aims to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. While addressing the Climate Ambition Summit via video link in December last year, Xi announced that by 2030, China aims to lower its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by over 65 percent from the 2005 level and increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 25 percent, Wang said. By mentioning that, Wang assured that China's as a responsible major country, will be committed to the Paris agreement and strive to promote sustainable development. Regarding the spread of COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, Wang underscored China's efforts in providing medical supply assistance for over 150 countries together with 13 international organizations. Reiterating China's commitment to turning Chinese vaccines into a global public products, the Chinese foreign minister pledged that China will work actively to ensure the accessibility and affordability of the vaccines among developing countries. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：June 25, 2021

Editor's note: Djoomart Otorbaev, a former prime minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, is a distinguished professor of the Belt and Road School of Beijing Normal University and a member of Nizami Ganjavi International Center. This is the last piece of his series on carbon capture. The article reflects the author's views and not necessarily those of CGTN. China's pledge to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 is genuinely ambitious and impressive. Delivering on this promise will require all the latest scientific and technological solutions to emissions reduction and carbon capture. This article focuses on the fact that China is now well-positioned to demonstrate global leadership in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Along with ensuring its energy security, such efforts will support the country's other strategic sectors of sustainable development. "China cannot achieve carbon neutrality (on schedule) without CCUS [carbon capture, utilization and storage]," said Li Xiaochun, professor at the Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). But, the world's second economy is currently facing challenges in applying CCS. Now, Chinese scientists have in-depth knowledge of most of the CCS technologies; however, the scope of their application in the industry remains small. The facts speak for themselves – at present in China, only one-hundredth of a percent of all emissions are subject to carbon capture. Estimates based on data from the Global CCS Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy show that the U.S., the industry leader, can capture much more, or about 0.5 percent of its annual net carbon emissions. Significant initial investment and high operating costs prevent both public and private companies from investing in CCUS technology. China has completed just 9 carbon capture demonstration projects and 12 recycling and storage projects, according to a report released earlier this year by a research group from the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning (CAEP). For over a decade, China has had the most significant number of CCS pilot projects in the world. The initial focus was on upgrading existing fossil fuel energy and industrial plants to understand how the capture technology system works on a small scale. These pilot applications covered various capture technologies such as post- or pre-combustion capture, oxyfuel capture, hydrogen capture from coal, and so on. Technologists have successfully tested carbon capture technology at a steel mill near Beijing. In this decade, to achieve its recently announced ambitious peak emissions targets, the country must aggressively move from small to large-scale projects. To do this, China must turn to its successful track record of developing renewable energy sources. Li Jia, an assistant professor at the China-UK Low-Carbon College at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, drew a parallel with how government subsidies have helped reduce the cost of solar cell manufacturing over the past decade. The government is currently taking the same approach to stimulate the market to spur the growth of electric vehicles through the demonstration of electrification of transport and the use of hydrogen in public transportation. Despite the increased attention from the government over the past 10 years, experts believe that improvements of Chinese laws and regulations related to CCS technologies are still needed to the development of the sector. Unlike its approach to other environmentally friendly innovations such as renewable energy, China has yet to legislate the use of CCS. Professor Wei Ning, a member of the CAS Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, suggested that China consider introducing incentives like the U.S.'s 45Q federal tax credit for companies that capture carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery or geological storage. Deploying CCS will not happen overnight. China has already made progress with its small pilot projects and international cooperation efforts. But this progress has not yet led to the development of large-scale projects. Learning from large-scale CCS demonstration projects will provide China with an opportunity to become a CCS leader by offering competitive low carbon technologies to the world. Besides, internationally available experience in implementing successful large-scale projects should be used at the national level when deploying CCS projects in China. The next decade will be critical for the demonstration and deployment of large-scale CCS projects. Some observers even believe that China's carbon market will one day merge with the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS), as setting a single global carbon price is essential. An EU-China High-Level Panel on ETS is already in place to promote cooperation and knowledge sharing. Large-scale CCS projects are currently the only solution to reduce emissions from vital heavy industries in the next decade and the foreseeable future. As China continues to grow, it will become necessary to decarbonize more and more manufacturing processes. New practices and business models, especially the experience of large-scale CCS deployments in commercial operations through proven pilot projects, will help decarbonize flue gas emissions from cement manufacturing processes, iron and steel manufacturing, chemicals, refineries, and power generation. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：June 12, 2021

low-carbon station has been built at the entrance of Fuxing Village. It has an ordinary cottage, a garden and some facilities. But it's its small size that has helped all of its residents learn what low carbon is and how to live a carbon-neutral life. Sitting at the northwest periphery of Zhongshan City, south China's Guangdong Province, Xiaolan Town has implemented the low-carbon development for years now. The North District community, where Fuxing Village is located, is a good example of a net-zero carbon community in China. Houses in the community have integrated solar power with building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). As the city gets plenty of sunlight every year, the rooftop photovoltaic power system generates enough electricity for each household, so much so that the excess can be sold to local power grid companies. Other facilities such as a rainwater harvesting system and waste sorting can also be found in the village. Residents can also turn trash into cash in just a few minutes by using smart recycling bins. Villagers in Fuxing also have their own garden to grow organic vegetables. Composting is a good way to deal with food waste and energize the soil. Residents there repurposed waste containers for use as compost bins by drilling a few spaced holes to allow air to circulate and placing layers of soil and kitchen scraps into the containers, which are kept seated on the ground. The magic takes place on its own. At the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China aims to have carbon dioxide emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Xiaolan Town offers just a glimpse of what China is doing. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：June 2, 2021