Beijing hopes COP30 will address concerns of developing nations

Chinese officials and experts have expressed the hope that the upcoming 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP30, will consider the concerns of developing nations, especially their demand for funding.

They also look forward to seeing the annual UN gathering, which will run from Thursday through Nov 21 in Belem, Brazil, send a strong signal of unwavering commitment to climate multilateralism.

One of the focus areas of the conference will be the implementation of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement and the assessment of updated Nationally Determined Contributions of countries.

An NDC is a climate action plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts that each party to the Paris Agreement is required to establish and update every five years.

In a video address to the 9th Ministerial on Climate Action held in Toronto, Canada, on Friday and Saturday, China's Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu emphasized that COP30, which coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, is pivotal to launching the next decade of global climate action and cooperation.

He noted "proactive progress" in implementing the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, as parties joined hands to cope with the grim challenges posed by the climate crisis by introducing NDCs and long-term low-carbon development strategies.

The minister also underscored the challenges the world faces in advancing multilateral processes and international cooperation to tackle climate change.

"Ensuring the comprehensive, effective and sustained implementation of the Paris Agreement, as well as achieving global green, low-carbon, and climate-resilient development, remains a substantial challenge," he said.

Against this backdrop, Huang expressed his hope to see fairness emphasized in COP30. He also stressed the importance of conducting proceedings with both prudence and pragmatism, in order to foster a meaningful international cooperation.

Xia Yingxian, director of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment's department of climate change, emphasized that COP30 is being held even as global climate governance is encountering challenges due to the imminent withdrawal of a certain country from the Paris Agreement.

The United States announced its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement for the second time early this year. A White House spokeswoman confirmed recently that the US will not send any high-level representatives to COP30.

"We hope this conference will clearly convey positive political signals, highlighting the unstoppable collective efforts in climate action, the irreversible momentum of green and low-carbon development, the essential role of international cooperation, and the unwavering commitment to multilateralism," Xia said.

He stressed the importance of addressing concerns of developing nations at the COP30, as parties negotiate to draw up road maps to implement the post-2025 climate finance targets they reached last year and review the progress that has been made in efforts to double international public adaptation finance from 2019 levels by 2025, a goal adopted in 2021.

COP30 should "ensure that developing nations have the essential support needed to fulfill their NDCs", he said

At COP29 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, participating countries reached consensus on an annual funding of at least $300 billion from developed countries and a broader climate finance goal of at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035 for supporting climate actions of developing countries.

Lyu Wenbin, director of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research's Energy Research Institute, stressed that many developing countries have expressed dissatisfaction with the post-2025 climate finance targets reached last year, and they all hope to see positive progress in formulating road maps for the targets at COP30.

He emphasized that the Belem conference should serve as one that promotes a just transition.

Parties should strengthen their consensus on the issue, and developing countries must have access to affordable green technologies and products in the global green and low-carbon transition, he said.

"There should be increased financial and technological support for developing countries, and it should be ensured that high-quality green products can circulate freely worldwide, allowing green development to truly benefit every part of the world," Lyu added.

houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn