With the official enforcement of Paris Agreement on Climate Change, every country in the world now faces a test to fulfill their promises in implementing the tasks, the People’s Daily said in an editorial published on Friday, the day marking the official implementation of the pact.
The following is the translation of the article:
Paris Agreement officially entered into force on Friday, completing its last legal procedure after being concluded, signed and approved. As a comprehensive, balanced and ambitious treaty, the pact will bring the world new prospect of sustainable development by setting a new path for multilateral effort on climate change.
The agreement did not come easily. When the Paris Conference was convened last December, the meeting was permeated with all kinds of setbacks, hardships, worries and concerns. Some even described it as “a challenge more complicated than any other human activity”. Despite of the doubts inside and outside the conference, the “seemingly impossible agreement” was endorsed on December 12, 2015.
What’s more, the agreement came into effect in less than a year after its endorsement, creating a record around the world. With unprecedented support and implementation pace, the Paris Agreement has become a historic landmark.
The Agreement not only reflects the world’s determination to promote low-carbon transition and fight against climate change, but also serves as a reference and injects confidence for global governance in other fields.
As a responsible major developing country, China has, by following a principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, equity and respective capability, taken practical measures to deal with climate change, participate in global climate governance, and accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
At the opening ceremony of the Paris Conference held last November, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the world to create a future of win-win cooperation, with each country making contribution to the best of its ability, a future of rule of law, fairness and justice, and a future of inclusiveness and mutual learning for common development, charting the course for global climate governance.
China and the US also sent a strong signal for early implementation of the agreement after Xi and his counterpart Barack Obama deposited their legal instruments for formally joining the pact to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon not long ago. Ban also hailed China on many occasions for its historic, fundamental, important and critical contribution to the success of Paris Agreement and Paris Conference.
“To cope with climate change is the domestic demand of China for sustainable development, and also an obligation of a responsible major country,” Xi’s signaled to the world that guided by the innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development philosophy, China has incorporated climate treatment into its medium- and long-term strategy of national economic and social development. What China did also sets an example for the whole world.
China managed to reduce its carbon intensity by 20 percent during 2011 to 2015, 3 percent more than the scheduled objective. It also optimized the resource structure by increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption in 2015 to 12 percent, higher than the 11.4 percent target set by China’s 12th Five-Year Plan.
In addition, China’s forest stocks have reached 15.137 billion cubic meters, the planned volume set for 2020. Such progress has proved China’s resolution to combat climate change and told the world China’s sincerity and ability to fulfill its obligation and make contribution.
With the entry into force of the pact, every country in the world faces a test to fulfill their promises in implementing the tasks. The first multilateral UN conference on climate change after the implementation of the Paris Agreement will be held in Marrakech, Morocco from November 7 to 18.
During the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 12th session of the COP to the Kyoto Protocol, delegations from a total of 196 countries and regions will discuss on detailed technical plans for the implementation of the pact.
It is expected that each party could give play to the spirit of win-win cooperation generated during the Paris Conference and meet each other halfway toward a global governance of maximum consensus and sincerity.
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(Via: NewsGhana)
