Climate change: World should focus on delivering commitments instead of setting new goals, China’s top envoy says

  • Now is the time for action and implementation of our commitments, Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate change envoy, says
  • Former US special envoy for climate change Todd Stern tells panel consensus was forming that the world needed to upgrade climate change goal to 1.5 degrees

Developed economies should shoulder their fair share of responsibilities by achieving net zero emissions earlier than developing countries, Xie says. Photo: AFP
The world should focus on delivering decarbonisation promises and engage in international technological cooperation, rather than arguing over agreed upon goals, according to Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate change envoy.
Xie, the country’s top climate diplomat, told a webinar on Tuesday that it was more important for countries to pool resources to innovate and share technology to reduce the cost of low carbon energy solutions, than to wrangle over whether to upgrade global goals to keep global warming at 1.5 degrees instead of 2 degrees.
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