Experts suggest green initiatives for 14th FYP

Advisory body calls for reductions in coal consumption in favor of non-fossil sources

China needs to take a more proactive role in building fair, rational, cooperative and mutually beneficial global climate governance, a top advisory body said on Sunday.

The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, a high-level international advisory body and think tank for the Chinese government in environment and development, is holding its annual general meeting in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province from Sunday to Wednesday.

"China's role has changed from being a participant to a contributor and leader ... The global community has higher expectations of China in fighting against climate change, energy conservation, emission reduction and low-carbon economy," said a report on global climate governance and China's role, one of the eight special policy studies and research findings announced at the meeting.

The report points out that it will be a key stage for China to achieve its carbon emission reduction commitments and realize low-carbon economic transformation from 2021 to 2025, or the country's 14th Five-Year Plan.

"We recommend China accelerate the decarbonization rate of the economy and set ambitious targets to enhance its leading role in global climate governance," said Wang Yi, vice-president of the Institutes of Science and Development at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

The measures include replacing the energy consumption cap with absolute greenhouse gases cap in the country's binding targets during the period of the 14th FYP, said the report.

The government is also advised to incorporate mandatory energy source indicators into the 14th FYP as an effort to change the energy consumption structurally.

The indicators include that by 2025, coal will account for 50 to 53 percent of primary energy consumption, and the non-fossil energy consumption reach 18-20 percent, which stood at 59 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively, at the end of 2018 as the government data indicate, according to the report.

The other studies touch up major issues in the fields of environment and development, including global biodiversity conservation, global ocean governance and ecological civilization, green urbanization strategy and pathways toward regional integrated development, ecological compensation and green development institutional reform in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, environmental improvement in 2035, green transition and sustainable social governance and green Belt and Road Initiative and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

The annual general meeting of the council has been a platform for its Chinese and international members to discuss environmental issues and reach a broader range of consensuses so the council can finalize the annual policy recommendations to submit to the State Council and relevant departments of China's central government.

"The issues might be repeatedly addressed, but hopefully we can find some new concepts, new methods, new resolutions and new suggestions, which can be helpful to the government, a specific group of corporations and the public," said Liu Shijin, Chinese chief adviser of the CCICED.

He noted that green development goes far beyond environmental protection and pollution treatment. It refers to a big economic system, in which consumption, finance, logistics, investment and innovation are all involved.