Support for climate governance urged

A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday urged the international community to further support developing countries in fostering advancements in global climate governance.

China supports the international community in strengthening policy coordination and increasing support for developing countries in funding, technology and capacity-building, driving ongoing progress in global climate governance, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

It has been observed that developing countries with weak climate resilience experience frequent occurrences of extreme weather events and natural disasters, resulting in significant damage to their development achievements, exacerbating resource constraints and spurring ethnic conflicts, Zhang told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

At the same time, Zhang said, "The intricate connection between climate change and security risks remains incompletely understood, and the exact transmission mechanism between the two is yet to be fully comprehended."

A problem-oriented approach should be adopted, identifying root causes and proposing effective solutions, Zhang said, offering examples from Haiti to Iraq.

In Haiti, recent floods worsened the humanitarian situation tied to climate change, but gang violence and political corruption are fundamental challenges, said Zhang.

In Iraq, ecological issues exist related to climate change, such as water shortage and desertification, but the main challenge is the aftermath of foreign invasion, he said, adding that war has irreversibly damaged Iraq's environment, making the land unusable.

"The most fundamental approach to preventing the transmission of climate change into security risks is by prioritizing development. Assisting developing countries in bridging this gap, enhancing climate resilience, and strengthening coping capabilities becomes essential," he said.

In this regard, the Security Council should "avoid being merely a forum for discussion and pursuing 'political correctness'. Instead, it should adopt a pragmatic approach, aligning with its mandate, and genuinely undertake practical measures to assist developing countries in addressing security risks," he said.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change's fundamental consensus "clearly assigns historical responsibility for global climate change to developed nations, emphasizing their obligation to lead in significant emissions reduction, achieving net zero or even negative carbon emissions at an early stage", he said.

In 2017, the US announced its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under the Donald Trump administration, making it the only nation among the nearly 200 signatories to divert from its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to NPR.

Zhang said insufficient funding is another bottleneck in global climate governance, urging the developed countries to address their "outstanding climate financing obligations".