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Li Jing

President Xi Jinping on Monday called on leaders from more than 140 countries to abandon the “zero-sum” mindset on climate change and unite to tackle the common challenge.
On the opening day of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, Xi said a deal for post-2020 action should be “comprehensive, balanced, ambitious and binding”. But rich nations should also honour their commitment to financial aid for developing nations.
The president said the deal had to galvanise global efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as respect the rights of developing countries to grow their economies.
“Tackling climate change is a shared mission for humanity,” Xi said.
“It also mirrors a new model for global governance in which each country does its fair share and reaches an all-win situation, while discarding the [old] mindset of the zero-sum game.
“The Paris conference is not the finishing line, it is a new starting point.”
READ MORE: Paris climate summit: developed countries should take lead in tackling global warming, says China’s president
Other world leaders also urged negotiators to forge an ambitious agreement in the two weeks of talks.
Calling terrorism and climate change “two major challenges we must overcome” for future generations, French President Francois Hollande said Paris “must be the start of far-reaching change” to limit the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, even 1.5 degrees if possible.
US President Barack Obama said: “The threat of climate change could define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other.”
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told negotiators to take a more flexible attitude to reach consensus at the gathering. China has taken an increasingly proactive role on climate change this year, forging bilateral deals with key players and major carbon polluters including the United States, France and India.

Meeting Xi on the sidelines of the summit, Obama credited Sino-US joint leadership with encouraging 180 nations to make their own pledges to curb emissions in the run-up to the Paris talks.
“Our leadership on this issue has been absolutely vital,” Obama said.
Wu Changhua, from The Climate Group, an international non-profit organisation, said China’s plans to transform its model of growth and tackle pollution were “perfectly aligned” with the global climate change agenda – and that was one reason Beijing was playing an increasingly proactive role in such talks.
Wu said tackling pollution in China would help solve the global climate crisis.
“Countries are now creating a much larger pie of [the green economy], and Chinese leaders are thinking how to win in this new round of competition,” she said.
“China is not merely playing the nice guy here [in the negotiation room], it is actually trying to grab a bigger piece of this pie.”
READ MORE: Full coverage of Paris climate summit
Wu said China’s lead on climate change was also in line with Xi’s push for a new global governance system in which China was “a major responsible power”.
Li Yan, deputy programme director of Greenpeace East Asia, said now was the time for Xi’s ambition for a low-carbon nation to be backed up with detailed policies for the next five years, especially curbs on the use of coal and commitments to boost renewable energy supplies.
Hollande said hopes for a deal emerged in the lead-up to the talks.
But there are still differences to overcome, with some emerging economies, particularly India, saying it would be difficult for it to switch from coal-fired power generation.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

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Paris climate summit 2015

Paris climate summit: Chinese president urges world leaders to unite to tackle common challenge

President Xi Jinping addresses world leaders at the UN climate summit in Paris on Monday. Photo: EPA

epa05049172 Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech as he attends Heads of States' Statements ceremony of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, 30 November 2015. The 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) is held in Paris from 30 November to 11 December aimed at reaching an international agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions and curtail climate change. EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT

(151130) -- PARIS, Nov. 30, 2015 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama in Paris, France, Nov. 30, 2015. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)(mcg)

Paris climate summit: Earth is a wilder, warmer place since last climate deal in 1997

Pedestrians wear masks on a polluted day in Beijing on November 30, 2015. Beijing choked under the worst smog of the year on November 30, with dangerous particulates nearly 20 times healthy levels, as China's president joined other leaders in Paris for key climate change talks. AFP PHOTO / GREG BAKER

epa05048194 A woman holds a poster of a sick Earth as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California, USA, 29 November 2015, on the eve of the COP21 Climate Conference in Paris, France, where global climate change issues will be discussed. Worldwide demonstrations were held to push for changes in governmental policies to address climate change. EPA/MIKE NELSON

Pedestrians wearing masks Beijing which is choked under the worst smog of the year on November 30, with dangerous particulates nearly 20 times healthy levels. Photo: AFP

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Xi Jinping calls for end to ‘zero-sum’ approach to reaching a deal 
