Xie Zhenhua, China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change, has stressed the role of circular economy in China’s climate actions, saying it’s an important choice for sustainable development, according to China Daily.

He made the remarks at an event on circular economy in the China pavilion, which was held on the sidelines of the COP28.

“China has listed promoting a circular economy as one of its ten major actions to realise its climate targets of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and realising carbon neutrality before 2060,” Xie noted.

The practice in China proves that circular economy can play an important role in tackling the climate crisis, he said.

Quoting data from the China Association of Circular Economy, he said the development of circular economy in China in 2022 helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to over 3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide.

“It’s contribution is really big,” he said. Xie also highlighted circular economy as an important part of China’s climate cooperat
ion with other countries.

In their Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis, the United States and China decided to operationalise the Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s, one of which focuses on circular economy and resource efficiency, he said.

The European Union and China extended a Memorandum of Understanding on Circular Economy they signed in 2018 for another five years at an EU-China High-Level Policy Dialogue on Circular Economy in September, he said.

Xie said he looks forward to seeing the establishment of an international cooperation platform at COP28 to promote pragmatic cooperation in circular economy development and other sectors.

Source: Emirates News Agency