Community of man and nature climate solution

On Thursday, World Earth Day, the global Leaders Summit on Climate was held via video links and President Xi Jinping attended the summit together with leaders from 37 other countries plus the European Union. In his keynote speech delivered to the summit, President Xi said that we must work together to “foster a community of life for man and nature”.

The community of life for man and nature is China’s proposal to cope with the global climate challenge. For years, the challenges have been deepening, and even ordinary people can feel the accelerated pace of global warming and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as heat waves, cold waves and hurricanes. And they are causing more crises in sectors such as health, food security and geopolitics.

Yet the international community has not yet taken sufficient measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Most importantly, a coordinated climate mechanism is yet to come, while a universally accepted governance concept has not been formed yet. The global “climate deficit” is still growing.

Things are made worse by a certain major carbon emitting country that takes the crisis as a political tool. Yes, it is the United States, which has both the highest total amount of carbon emissions and the highest per capita. It joined the Kyoto Protocol during the Bill Clinton administration, exited it during George W. Bush’s rule. Barack Obama signed the Paris Agreement, but Donald Trump exited it, with Joe Biden joining it again. Such repeated changes have not only earned large quantities of “climate deficit” for the US, but also ruined its reputation as a climate leader.

Data from the World Meteorological Organization show that the global temperature has risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius for the past 10 years, nearing the 1.5 C red line. China’s initiative of a community of life for man and nature will help the world rally and take action.

It is the “six adherences” proposed by President Xi at this summit — adhere to the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, adhere to green development, adhere to system governance, adhere to being people-oriented, adhere to multilateralism, and adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities — that are the practical means to realize the building of a community of life for man and nature.