The Paris climate change conference should reject the narrow-minded mentality of zero-sum game, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in Paris on Monday, urging all countries, developed countries in particular, to assume more shared responsibilities for win-win outcomes. [Special coverage]
Xi made the remarks when delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the two-week conference, officially called the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The highly-anticipated meeting, opened by leaders from over 150 countries, aims to yield a new international agreement to reduce greenhouse gases beyond 2020 when the 1997 Kyoto Protocol expires.
Such an accord is seen as crucial for keeping the rise in global temperatures within 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, a goal scientists say should be met to avoid risky changes in the climate.
Developing nations insist that richer countries, which have already completed their own polluting industrial revolution, must shoulder the greater burden for the carbon emission cuts.
In his speech, Xi reiterated the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," saying it must be upheld during the upcoming climate negotiations.
The Paris conference should accommodate the national conditions of various countries and lay emphasis on practical results, Xi said.
It is imperative to respect differences among countries, especially developing ones, in domestic policies, capacity building and economic structure, he said.
"Addressing climate change should not deny the legitimate needs of developing countries to reduce poverty and improve their peoples' living standards," he added.
Along with leaders of other developing nations, Xi urged developed countries to honor their commitments on climate finance and transfer of low-carbon and eco-friendly technologies to developing countries.
He calls for full and effective implementation of the agreement on climate finance.
It was agreed in the 2009 Copenhagen conference that poorer nations vulnerable to global warming impacts would receive 100 billion U.S. dollars per year by 2020 to give up fossil fuels and shore up defenses against climate-driven food scarcity, heat waves and storm damage.
"Developed country should honor their commitment, mobilizing 100 billion U.S. dollars each year before 2020, and provide stronger financial support to developing countries afterwards," said Xi.
"It is also important that climate-friendly technologies should be transferred to developing countries," he added.
