The 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Takes Place Amidst the Shadow of the U.S. Election. On November 16, halfway through the schedule, limited progress has been made, and negotiations are still at the technical level.
Liu Zhenmin, participating in the climate conference for the first time as China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, had a busier schedule over the past two days. Besides attending side events held at the China Pavilion, he began to accept a series of meetings – as the world’s second-largest economy and a major emitter of greenhouse gases, all parties are closely watching China’s next move and stance.
COP29 is known as the “climate finance” conference, and whether all parties can reach a consensus on climate finance will be an important indicator for evaluating the success of this conference in the future. On the first day of the conference, as the largest developing country, China officially announced its climate South-South cooperation funds of over 177 billion yuan for the first time, hoping to provide a positive signal for this conference focused on funding negotiations. However, some countries believe that China should also become a contributor to the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) on funding.
On November 16, Liu Zhenmin, China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, was interviewed by The Paper in the delegation office. Photo by Diao Fanchao, The Paper.
Regarding the focal issues of current negotiations, Liu Zhenmin accepted an exclusive interview with The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) in the delegation office, where he explained the difficulty of the negotiations and clearly stated China’s position.
“The negotiation process is very difficult,” Liu Zhenmin said. He hopes that in the remaining week of negotiations, all parties will simplify the format and enrich the content, so that the outcome of this negotiation will be both concise and substantive, with tangible results.
The following is the full text of the interview:
Whether a consensus can be reached on the “climate finance” issue will be an important factor in evaluating the success of this conference.
The Paper: Have the negotiations been stressful these past two days?
Liu Zhenmin: Personally, I’m not too stressed. But a week has passed, and the negotiations are still at the technical level with limited progress, so the task for the remaining week is very arduous. All delegations are feeling the pressure.
The pressure comes from the fact that COP29 should be a very important conference in the climate change negotiation process. Its importance is reflected in the historic agreement reached at COP28 last year to initiate an energy transition process that is just, orderly, and equitable to phase out fossil fuels, in order to achieve global net-zero emissions by 2050. After the initiation of this process, for a large number of developing countries, due to difficulties in funding, technology, and other aspects, it will be difficult to achieve their own transformation without external financial support.
The Paper: COP29 is known as the “climate finance” conference. What is the significance of the climate finance issue in negotiations?
Liu Zhenmin: This year’s COP29 is considered the “climate finance” conference, indicating that the key issue of this conference, or the criterion for evaluating its success in the future, is whether it can reach a consensus on climate finance. Therefore, compared to other issues, the climate finance issue is even more important.
The Chinese delegation attaches great importance to the issue of “climate finance”. We are also separately urging developed countries to continue to clarify their commitments in accordance with Article 9 of the Paris Agreement, and to further increase their support and funding for developing countries based on the $100 billion committed at the Copenhagen conference.
So it depends on how developed countries proceed in the next step. But overall, multilateral development banks, driven and led by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, are also making efforts. Various multilateral development banks have also expressed their willingness to participate in the global climate finance process. So far, various multilateral banks have provided support for climate finance. They have supported some projects for climate mitigation and adaptation actions in developing countries.
NCQG is the responsibility of developed countries.
The Paper: Some countries believe that China should also become a contributor to the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) on funding. What do you think of this view?
Liu Zhenmin: This is also an issue faced by this conference, but it seems that developed countries are deliberately diverting attention and misleading the direction of negotiations.
The common position of China and the Group of 77 (G77) is that we hope that in this new collective quantified goal (NCQG), it is the developed countries that should propose new goals for financial assistance, which is clearly stated in Article 9, Paragraph 1 of the Paris Agreement.
The main content of Article 9, Paragraph 1 of the Paris Agreement stipulates that developed country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation in accordance with Article 4. Specifically, developed countries shall provide financial resources to assist developing countries in mitigating the impacts of climate change and enhancing their capacity to adapt to climate change.
Under this premise, developing countries are encouraged to provide their assistance on a voluntary basis. Article 9 also encourages other international financial institutions and multilateral development banks to participate in financing. Developed countries should also further leverage more private and corporate investments through their financing.
Looking at the huge global demand for climate finance in the future, a large part of it will rely on investment. Therefore, reaching a new NCQG goal at the conference is also a crucial point for the conference’s outcome. But this is a quantified commitment made by developed countries, and developing countries do not have this legal obligation. Developing countries can provide some financial support based on their capabilities.
China is being watched by developed countries because it is a major country, the world’s second-largest economy, and a major emitter of greenhouse gases. Everyone is closely watching China’s next move and stance.
Our position is clear: as a developing country, we cannot participate in the collective quantified funding amount that should be provided by developed countries. This is their (developed countries) responsibility. China will continue to provide assistance to developing countries through South-South cooperation channels.
Hoping that all parties will set aside political disputes and focus on negotiations.
The Paper: How are the negotiations progressing at the conference?
Liu Zhenmin: The United Nations Climate Change Conference involves 198 parties. From the beginning of this conference, we have encountered some unfavorable phenomena. I once told some colleagues that this conference is being held under the shadow of severe global geopolitical division and confrontation.
On November 5, Republican candidate Trump was elected in the U.S. election. Due to the painful lesson of Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement during his previous administration, the international community is generally worried about whether Trump will withdraw from the Paris Agreement again after taking office on January 20 next year. This has become a factor affecting the confidence in these negotiations. Especially other developed countries, led by the European Union, are worried about whether the United States will participate in the next apportionment of the collective quantified funding amount among developed countries. So this is an unfavorable phenomenon and one of the shadows.
On the other hand, in the first one or two days of this conference, a few European countries had some verbal disputes with the host country government of COP29 due to political differences. This also created a very bad atmosphere for the conference, making everyone worried about whether the EU countries would support the smooth progress of the conference and whether it would affect the conference’s achievement of a good result. So I have been asking my EU friends and members of the EU delegation about this issue these days. I told them that European countries, especially the EU, have always been leaders in global cooperation on climate change. You should value global cooperation on climate change and view this conference as a conference of the parties, not the host country’s conference. You should value the outcome of this conference. The EU should take the lead and set aside differences with the host country on individual issues, because these disputes between you are insignificant compared to whether the conference will achieve a good result.
So overall, the message I conveyed to all delegations on behalf of China is that we hope all parties will set aside political disputes and focus on the negotiation work. Especially some countries and groups should play a positive leading role. Now, for example, EU countries also agree with our view. So in recent days, we have gradually seen that this political dispute has begun to cool down.
All parties should simplify the format and enrich the content.
The Paper: The current international situation has great uncertainties. In this context, what role will China play in upholding the goals set by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement?
Liu Zhenmin: In the past thirty years of climate change negotiations, China has always been an important force in actively promoting multilateral cooperation and international cooperation. However, we should recognize that climate change negotiations are mainly group negotiations between developed and developing countries. In group negotiations, major countries still have significant influence. Therefore, as a major developing country, we should be proud of our influence and role. At the same time, we should also recognize that what we uphold is not only China’s position but, more importantly, the position of developing countries. We uphold the position of multilateralism and global cooperation.
Our negotiation goals are clear, and we have high expectations for the negotiation results. However, the negotiation process is very difficult. We should recognize that in the past thirty years of climate negotiations, the United States and the EU have exerted significant influence throughout the negotiation process. Their negotiation stances are influenced by their internal politics, which makes COP29