The 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 24), the 14th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 14), and the 3rd session of the first meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 1-3) were held in Katowice, Poland between Dec. 2 and 14, during which the UN Climate Change Conference was held on Dec. 3. Minister Li Ganjie presented at the Conference and conducted intensive negotiations with all parties concerned.

In his talks with Minister Henryk Kowalczyk of Environment of Poland, Minister Li said, the Chinese side appreciates the all-dimensional endeavors made by the Polish side as the host country of the Conference. China looks forward that the Conference reaches a comprehensive, balanced, and actionable implementation rules for the Paris Agreement, honors the principle of equity and “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capacities (CBDR–RC)”, and reflects the bottom-up approach to making “nationally independent decisions”. The Chinese side is with the host country on the declarations the latter has initiated on fair transformation, electric vehicles, and forest carbon sink.

Minister Kowalczyk appreciated China’s support and noted that China’s leading role in the multilateral process of climate change has attracted worldwide attention. He hoped that the Chinese side would continue to play its positive role and enable the Conference to achieve its expected goals. The two sides also discussed future cooperation and agreed on strengthening the bilateral cooperation on climate change and in the ecological and environmental sector.

In his talks with Minister Yasmine Fouad of Environment of Egypt, the host country of “77 Group+China”, Minister Li extended his gratitude to Egypt for its contributions to coordinating the common interests of the “77 Group+China”. Also, he said China stands ready to work with the Egyptian side for better coordination of the positions across the Group, the greater solidarity among the developing countries, and the finalization of the implementation rules for the Paris Agreement at the Katowice Conference. China congratulated Egypt on the success of the COP 14 of the Convention on Biological Diversity and hoped to learn the Egyptian experience for the success of the COP 15 to be held in China.

Madame Fouad responded that China and Egypt have maintained friendly ties for a long time and that Egypt is ready to work with China for this Conference to achieve a package of comprehensive, balanced, and actionable outcomes, and shore up the global confidence in tackling climate change.

In his talks with French Minister of State and Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition Francois de Rugy and Secretary of State Brune Poirson, Li reviewed the meeting between the French and Chinese top leaders and the meeting among the foreign ministers of the two countries and UN Secretary General on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. Li noted that the aforementioned meetings have sent a strong message for a joint effort to tackle climate change and injected a political impetus for the success of the Katowice Summit. China is ready to work with the French side towards the success of this Summit, and through bilateral dialogues, constantly enhance communications and cooperation, and champion and act on the outcomes of the Paris Agreement.

In response, Minister de Rugy said that China and France have established strong partnership in the area of climate change and that the bilateral interactions at the G20 Summit have sent a message to the international community in support of the multilateral process of climate change. He hoped that China continue to play a constructive role in the finalization of the Paris Agreement implementation rules.

In his talks with Ret. Gen. Roy Cimatu, Filipino Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Li said the Chinese side identifies with Philippine on the negative impact of climate change and would like to strengthen pragmatic bilateral cooperation and share policy experience in this regard, and jointly address the challenges of climate change. China welcomes the renewed membership of Philippine in the group of developing countries which share similar positions and is ready to collaborate with Philippine to play a constructive role in the multilateral process of climate change and to advance the full implementation of the Paris Agreement.

In response, Secretary Cimatu said that climate change has led to frequent extreme disasters and presented great challenges for the economic and social development of Philippine. The Filipino side appreciates China’s support in the area of climate change and would like to deepen pragmatic cooperation with China to address global climate change challenges.