The China Corner of COP28 shares the stories of climate governance in low-carbon cities and urban agglomerations

Recently, the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) China Corner was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Sun Zhen, a first-level inspector of the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that climate change is a common challenge faced by all countries, and China has always attached great importance to addressing climate change, incorporating carbon peaking and carbon neutrality into the overall layout of ecological civilization construction, greatly promoting the green transformation of industrial structure, promoting green and low-carbon development in urban and rural construction and transportation, launching the online trading of the world's largest carbon emission trading market covering greenhouse gases, and continuously deepening the work of adapting to climate change.

Xu Huaqing, director of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, believes that low-carbon development is a complex, systematic and long-term system project. With the continuous advancement of China's carbon peak and carbon neutrality work, some deep-seated problems, contradictions and challenges are gradually emerging, and it is necessary to further strengthen research, build consensus, boldly explore, and strive for major breakthroughs. The low-carbon pilot is a "test field" to explore the organic combination of national overall planning and pilot implementation, and it is urgent to deepen the top-level design and encourage initiative to take the lead in reaching the peak. The low-carbon pilot is also a "manifesto" to explore and tell China's low-carbon story and China's contributions, and it is urgent to build a model for China and lead global governance.

Co-sponsored by China Environment Publishing Group, Sun Yat-sen University and the Chinese Society for Urban Studies, and organized by Environmental Protection Magazine, the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Sun Yat-sen University, and the Guangdong Provincial Green and Low-Carbon Development Professional Committee, the event invited participants to discuss the path of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in cities and urban agglomerations, tell the story of China in response to climate change, and give full play to the strength of all parties to promote deeper cooperation between cities and urban agglomerations at home and abroad in climate governance.

Ahmed Murad, Vice-Chancellor of UAE University, said that UAE University is the first and most important comprehensive national university in the United Arab Emirates. In order to improve its international research status, UAE University has been working closely with global partners to provide research solutions to regional or global challenges, and has made many useful attempts in climate governance research and platform construction, and hopes to carry out more academic exchanges and cooperation with Chinese research institutions to jointly promote climate action.

Guo Yuanyuan, assistant to the general manager and editor-in-chief of China Environment Publishing Group, president and editor-in-chief of Environmental Protection magazine, said that it is more urgent than ever to tell climate stories, convey China's voice, and share China's wisdom and solutions through stories. As the main front of ecological civilization publicity, China Environment Publishing Group disseminates Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and the practical results of Beautiful China to the world. With a strong sense of ownership and a sense of responsibility for the times, we will practice green and low-carbon development, and promote the construction of a discourse system with Chinese characteristics and Chinese style that can be shared with all countries in the world through book publishing, digital communication, and ecological and cultural activities.

The event featured a number of topics, including an English promotional video, a sharing of China's response to climate change, and a dialogue between experts on climate governance in cities and urban agglomerations. In the China Story Session, through the exhibition of outstanding city cases and the sharing of representatives from Beijing, Guangxi, Chongqing, Hebei, Zhejiang and other provinces, the positive actions of Chinese cities in response to climate change were shown to the world from multiple perspectives.

Guo Meng, Director of the Publicity and Education Department of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, introduced the actions of the public in Beijing to actively participate in environmental and climate governance. Through the formulation of policy documents such as the Beijing Action Plan for Addressing Climate Change 2023, the leadership of ecological and environmental public welfare ambassadors, and the guidance of typical green and low-carbon cases, we will promote the formation of internal motivation for the public to take positive actions, so that Beijing's actions to address climate change will be more diverse, more widely disseminated, and more diversified.

Ou Bo, deputy director of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, shared the story of Guangxi's protection of mountains and rivers. Guangxi adheres to the concept of green development throughout the whole process of economic and social development and in all fields, accelerates structural optimization and adjustment, accelerates the green transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and comprehensively implements green manufacturing; promotes the construction of low-carbon cities, coordinates the promotion of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, and incorporates the requirements of carbon peak and carbon neutrality into the "three lines and one order" zoning control system, actively develops green finance, promotes the pilot construction of national climate investment and financing in Liuzhou, and builds the first green financial service platform in the region.

In addition, the side event actively practiced the concept of low carbon, especially through the purchase of carbon sinks to achieve carbon neutrality, and a professional certification body issued a carbon neutrality certificate to the organizer of the side event.