CGTN: On climate change, we're running out of time, not options

BEIJING, Dec. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Beijing, the strong, fast-beating heart of Chinese prosperity, has been known as a safe and stable city free from natural calamities. But not the summer of 2023. Throughout the season, the mercury soared, with daily highs consistently hitting over 40°C. Then as the capital had a relative respite from sweltering heat, there came the heavy rain, flooding and displacing thousands of people.

As Beijing recovered, some horrible but similar trend is echoing all around the globe: the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century scorched Lahaina, Hawaii; the devastating floods that destroyed a quarter of the city of Derna, Lybia; extreme heat and worsen drought in Chile and the Horn of Africa; rising sea level for island countries... "Humanity has opened the gates of hell," as the UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted, "we are heading towards a dangerous and unstable world."

Although the alarm bell keeps ringing, we should not lose hope and give up. But rather, it's high time to take actions. China and the United States, as the world's two largest economies, have shown their political will by the milestone Sunnylands Statement. And looking back a bit further, from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement, binding targets to limit emission and temperature increase have been set through joint efforts.

And China has walked the talk for achieving its goal of carbon peaking and neutrality. From transforming deserts to cleaning up the air, to developing new technology, shifting energy structure, and raising public awareness on a healthier lifestyle. China is doing everything to cultivate a more sustainable cycle of nature, to pay off previous ecological debts, avoid new debts, and strive to save our planet in more creative ways.

If climate change is a global concern, the burden is not equally shared. On the one hand, developed countries are responsible for most of the heat-trapping emissions since the Industrial Revolution. On the other, developing countries have lower emissions, but are bearing the brunt of a hotter climate. Promises from some of the world's biggest economies haven't been panning out, delayed by political deadlock, bureaucratic hurdles and debates over new rules to expedite aid from development banks and private donors.

An injustice burns at the heart of the climate crisis and its flame is scorching hopes and possibilities, as world leaders are warning. "We cannot continue," Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados called, "to put the interest of a few before the lives of many."

How to make sure the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, with all pulling in the same direction? It needs leadership, vision, and multilateralism. China, along with the rest of the world, is taking the lead to give its best shot, bringing down the price of renewable energy, sharing knowhow for deploying sustainable projects, and transitioning to a low-carbon era. With climate change being a global issue, only in a global approach and by joint efforts can we translate the will into concrete outcomes, and mitigate the climate we changed.