On Dec. 3 local time, the UN Climate Change Conference was held in Katowice of Poland. The opening ceremony was moderated by Polish Vice Minister of the Environment Michał Kurtyka, the country that currently holds the presidency of the Conference. Polish President Duda, UN Secretary General António Guterres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, and World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva presented at the meeting and delivered remarks. Minister Li Ganjie represented China at the Conference.

UN Secretary General António Guterres noted that the climate changes at a faster rate than the human can cope with. Facing the daunting challenges, the mankind will suffer irreversible losses if not taking immediate and effective actions to tackle climate change.

The Polish President Duda announced the Conference’s declaration on fair transformation and called for all parties to advance the low-carbon transformation around the world.

World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva announced a planned investment of 200 bn. U.S. dollars between 2021 and 2025 to support the climate actions, including 10 bn. U.S. dollars from the World Bank and another half from the private sector.

On the sidelines of the Conference, Minister Li Ganjie had talks separately with UN Secretary General António Guterres, Deputy Secretary General Liu Zhenmin, and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, vowed China’s resolute support for the multilateral process of climate change and the success of the Katowice Conference, and exchanged views on the ongoing Conference and the next one in 2019.

Li noted that climate change is a common challenge of the whole mankind, an issue that needs the attention of the entire international community to address. China has highly valued the climate change issue, taken strong policy actions at home, and engaged in the multilateral process of climate change in the international arena.

China highly appreciates the important part played by the United Nations and the UNFCCC Secretariat in the multilateral process of climate change and will as always collaborate with the United Nations and other parties to advance the climate governance.

China hoped that the Katowice Conference accurately interpret the Paris Agreement, honor the principle of equity and “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capacities (CBDR–RC)”, reflect the bottom-up approach to making “nationally independent decisions”, take into account the concerns of all parties especially those of the developing countries, and make sure the Conference reach a package of outcomes including the comprehensive, balanced, and actionable implementation rules of Paris Agreement.

UN Secretary General António Guterres recalled his meeting with President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit and his talks with the Chinese and French foreign ministers. He appreciated China’s leadership in coping with climate change, and hoped the Chinese side would continue to play a constructive role, coordinate all parties to reach common consensuses, and make sure the Katowice Conference reach the expected outcomes. He appreciated China’s support for the 2019 Conference.

The UN Climate Change Conference is scheduled to be convened between Dec. 2 and 14 in Katowice, Poland, where the delegates of nearly 200 countries will negotiate on the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement within a fortnight. The overarching objective of this conference is to conclude the negotiations on the implementation rules.