CONFIDENT
Hts of China at global climate negotiations
g bags and a row of ed in the corner of Chiotiators,
ei Liang, said that his less for 40 hours in conference. It was in 2013 in Warsaw. The conference was delayed for one day as the parties could not come to an agreement on an expression. “I felt overextended,” Pei said.
Three years after the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement passed, the two-week COP24 needs to adopt the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement on how to carry out the accord fairly for all participating countries.
Insiders all predicted quite long delays before the meeting ends.
Good reputation
When talking with delegates, Liu’s name is often mentioned.
“Go ask Liu Shuo, she’s a ‘big guy,’” Sun joked.
However, the real Liu is small, slim and humble, and she is a woman.
When this Global Times reporter met her in the Chinese office, she was reading on her laptop, with a coffee cup in her left hand and a tissue in her right hand. Her coat was thrown over her shoulder.
Liu, from the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, works on agriculture and climate change, including carbon reduction in agricultural areas.
“I have to spend lots of time to sort out the opinions of different countries or interest groups,” she said. “Participating in climate change conferences takes a big part of my time.”
“My colleagues at my institute always say, ‘Where have you been this time Liu Shuo? You are either abroad or on the way to apply for work abroad,’” Liu said.
“It is essential to keep the stability of the delegate team,” Liu said in an interview with Chinese media, “so I insist on negotiating.”
“It is a great honor to make such a contribution for the country. I’m proud of this,” Liu said.
Liu’s 3-year-old child has now got used to Liu being away.
“My child can now remember where I went to. At this time I feel sorry for my family,” Liu said.
This year Liu has negotiated for China eight times. Sometimes the negotiations take around three weeks.
Liu still remembers the first time she became a negotiator. She said she felt like someone who cannot swim being dropped into sea.
“It’s like the experience of the Chinese delegation. We used to be in a passive position in negotiations. Now we can express our interests and join a process actively.”
Red lines
“We have two principles in negotiation. We cannot cause the failure of a negotiation. We cannot have results that are against the interests of China,” Sun said.
Guo Xiaofeng is a Chinese delegate from the office of climate change under the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Guo has been engaged in negotiating climate change since 2007.
With an education background in law and experience in negotiation, Guo implied that strategies are sometimes used in negotiation, and the delegates have been told to use a poker face when working toward negotiation results.
Guo always wears traditional Chinese garments while negotiating. “It suits more to my identity, and it’s more convenient without a tie. Moreover, it increases my confidence,” he told the media.
He said the main goal of negotiation on climate change is to provide a beneficial space for the country’s development. In past years, the Chinese delegation has become an active participant and a contributing leader in negotiations, a shift from its previous defensive stance.
China has been working together with many developed countries and playing a key role in promoting the implementation of the Paris agreement.
“No matter what the global society does, China’s transition to reducing carbon emissions to confront climate change in economic development will go on,” Guo said. “This is a necessary need of domestic economic development and caters to the global trend.”