Paris climate talks: China goes from back foot to big leap forward in negotiations
Chinese negotiators were there in the final stretch to forge landmark deal despite stumbling earlier in the week
In the final hour before French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was finally able to announce that a Paris climate deal had been sealed, China’s top negotiator Xie Zhenhua was there among the small group of delegates and leaders helping to eliminate the last few points of contention.
Much was hanging on the outcome, which capped a week in which China seemed to struggle to respond to pressure from a new coalition.
But China stepped up its efforts on the last day and soon hailed the agreement – which aims to limit global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius – as a “historic step”.
The deal was hailed for bringing all nations on board for a common goal: to peak their carbon emissions as early as possible and strive to reach net-zero emissions in the second half of this century.
In the run-up to the conclusion of the deal, several nations expressed reservations. But Xie, together with his Brazilian counterparts, US Secretary of State John Kerry, top US climate negotiator Todd Stern, and United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres, stepped up coordination to ensure the deal was adopted, observers said.
READ MORE: Historic Paris agreement to stop climate change: ‘A victory for all of the planet and for future generations’
“China has always played a constructive role … even at the Copenhagen summit six years ago, which some thought was a failure. Many people later recognised and praised our contributions,” Xie said.