China adds its voice to UN summit Rules on environment could go global if policies are adopted

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China, which attaches great importance to sustainable development, has included “ecological construction” in its national development strategy.

Wang called on developing countries to fully participate in global environmental governance at a summit launching the Global Pact for the Environment at United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

The summit, opened by French President Emmanuel Macron, was based on a French proposal for the global pact aimed at creating a binding international code of environmental law.

The summit was attended by Miroslav Lajcak, a Slovak and president of the United Nations General Assembly for the 72nd session, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the four other permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, Russia and the United States.

Wang affirmed France’s key role in environmental governance. France worked with the international community to reach the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015.

Wang said China supports strengthening dialogue and cooperation to address sustainable development issues, including environmental protection through multilateral platforms. China welcomes and appreciates France’s global pact proposal, he said.

“We have held innovation, coordination, green, open and shared as our concepts of development, and we have already incorporated ecological environmental construction into the national development strategy,” he said.

President Xi Jinping, in a speech at the UN Office at Geneva this year, stressed that “ecological construction” will become a key aspect of a shared international future.

Wang said China is willing to participate in global environmental governance, firmly support and implement the Paris Agreement and contribute its share to advance a fair and reasonable multilateral system of environmental governance.

He said China also believes that in promoting

Developing countries should become indispensable and important participants in international environmental governance.” Wang Yi, foreign minister

such cooperation, including the Global Pact for the Environment, the interests of all parties must be taken into account.

He suggested they adhere to four cardinal principles.

First, environmental issues should be discussed within the framework of sustainable development, which will be advantageous to achieving coordination and harmonization between environmental protection and economic and social development.

And the international community should adhere to the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, to help developing countries steadily improve the level of environmental governance and sustainable development capacity.

Another principle is “national sovereignty of environmental resources”, which is not only a prerequisite for cooperation in the field of international environment, but also a power given by the UN Charter and the principles of international law to each country.

The fourth principle is insistence on full participation by developing countries. Wang said developing countries are tasked with strengthening environmental protection and governance while facing the difficult jobs of developing their economies and improving people’s livelihoods.

“Developing countries should become indispensable and important participants in international environmental governance,” Wang said.

Guterres said that all people are affected by climate change and that the problems could be solved only by joint effort.