COP28 told to address Global South concerns

China, as a nation that always stands with other developing economies, will support the COP28 climate change conference to achieve breakthroughs in areas that are of concern to the Global South, Chinese officials said on Thursday.

They made the remarks as the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change started in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

"We always stand with the Group of 77, the BASIC countries and like-minded developing nations," said Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change, during an event held at the China pavilion that has been set up to host various sessions on the sidelines of the two-week-long climate meet.

The BASIC countries are Brazil, South Africa, India and China, while the G77, the largest multilateral coordination organization for developing countries, now has more than 130 members.

Xie said that China, along with those other countries, will strive to play a constructive role in encouraging COP28 to address the key concerns of developing countries and safeguard political trust among parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. He said he looks forward to seeing friends from around the world gather in the pavilion to share their best practices in promoting green, low-carbon transition and innovation.

Ecology and Environment Minister Huang Runqiu said he looks forward to seeing COP28 firmly safeguard multilateralism and carry out the first Global Stocktake in a proactive manner.

The Global Stocktake is the first-ever assessment of the world's collective progress in achieving the goals of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

"The appeals of developing nations should be fully responded to," Huang said, adding that COP28 should urge developed countries to exercise the flexibility to reach multilateral solutions.

The China pavilion will host more than 100 events on the sidelines of COP28. The pavilion, featuring two meeting areas and one exhibition area, is on the first floor of the Chinese delegation's office.

Activities focusing on energy transition, digital development, green finance and China's policies and actions on climate change will be held over 9 days with different themes such as the Opening Day, the Youth Day, the Mitigation Day, and the Technology and Finance Day.

Some sessions will focus on climate actions in Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Shenzhen, Guangdong province, while others will be about industrial sectors such as construction and power generation, the ministry said.