China hailed for its role in climate change fight

China is a world leader in pioneering solutions to tackling climate change, particularly in terms of renewable energy, and the country has an important role to play in driving down the cost of renewable capacities globally, Britain's Ambassador to China, Caroline Wilson, has said.

The United Kingdom welcomes China's commitments for its carbon emissions to peak by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, Wilson said on Friday.

"The 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) is going to be a really key moment, to see the details of what China plans and how to implement these ambitious goals."

China, which has the world's largest renewable capacity, can help the world, especially developing countries, to bring down the cost of renewable energy, she said.

She hailed the progress China has made in promoting green transport, with the country now producing about half the world's new-energy vehicles. China has headed the global NEV market in terms of sales since 2015.

China and the UK are working together to reduce the cost of clean energy worldwide, with both having set up a bilateral energy dialogue and clean energy partnership framework.

China is due to host the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, also known as COP15, this year, and the UK holds the presidency of the UN 2021 Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26.

Wilson stressed the significance of getting as many synergies out of the two conferences as possible.

"It is a great opportunity for our two countries. There is a correlation, as we know, between climate change and biodiversity loss."

The two countries need to do much more to get the world engaged, she said.

The UK and China are working closely on green finance and energy transition, she said.

She cited the UK-China Green Finance Centre, launched by the two countries in 2018 to enhance finance collaboration to accelerate the global transition to an environmentally sustainable future.

Wilson also highlighted the significance of enabling a green economic recovery from the fallouts of COVID-19.

"2020 was one of the hottest years on record, with extreme and unpredictable weather events, with COVID-19 forcing many people to think more about nature, about the planet, and maybe thinking more about not only where COVID originally came from but the importance of our planet, the importance of nature.

"So we also have to build back better from COVID because of the damage that has been done to our economies. So this is a really important opportunity and important moment."