All this, however, may not be enough to meet China’s carbon goals and keep its trajectory within in the 1.5 degrees target of the Paris Agreement. 

Like other countries, China faces major energy and financing challenges.

First, a fast-growing demand for energy that will continue to be highly-reliant on coal in the short term. 

As of 2022, 56.2 percent of China's energy still comes from coal.  Energy and other commodity shortages globally last year, exacerbated by the Ukraine war and geopolitical divides, highlight the challenge of balancing short-term priorities – like energy security and economic stability – with long-term sustainable development. 

For example, new coal power permits issued in China last year were at their highest since 2015, while 50 GW of new coal plants started construction - up 50 percent from 2021.  

To accelerate low-carbon sustainable development, China – as all countries – must decarbonise every sector, including energy and other hard-to-abate industries, as well as phase-out fossil fuels, while also expanding renewables and pursuing efficiency gains, to meet the increasing energy demands of its growing economy. 

To be socially and politically acceptable, such a transition must also be just and fair for vulnerable people.
 
Secondly, increased levels of finance need to be directed towards low-carbon development

The World Bank estimates about USD 14 trillion of cumulative additional investments in China’s power and transport sectors are needed up to 2060 to achieve carbon neutrality and its Nationally Determined Contributions.  Annually, this equates roughly to 2% of current GDP.  

And thirdly, we must step-up international sustainability cooperation

Firstly, for a just, low-carbon transition:

Policy action is critical. China’s coal industry employs 3.4 million people.  Dismantling it will disrupt livelihoods in the short-term. The IEA estimates that up to 2.3 million fossil fuel jobs may be lost. 

At the same time, however, roughly 3.6 million new clean energy jobs may be created by 2030.  

UNDP works with policymakers to ensure that vulnerable people and places are protected when entire sectors are phased-out. Retraining various groups, including women, in new economy sectors that will account for much of GDP and high paying jobs of the future, is critical to leaving no one behind. Where retraining is not possible, compensation is key, including through unemployment insurance.

Second: to close the financing gap for a just, low-carbon transition, Chinese authorities have developed a comprehensive body of guidelines and regulations since 2016, to redirect private and corporate finance towards green sectors. From barely any issuance seven years ago, China is now the largest green bond issuer.  China and the EU are also driving efforts to harmonise finance standards, exemplified by their Common Ground Taxonomy-Climate Change Mitigation, the first comprehensive step towards mutual approaches to green financing.  

To further accelerate financial flows to where they are most needed, strengthening impact measurement, disclosure and reporting is critical. 

To this effect, UNDP has been joining hands with different partners to foster sustainable financing. Examples range from: 
- Supporting the issuance of SDG bonds in China, such as with New Development Bank and financial regulators; 
- Showcasing investment opportunities that generate both economic and SDG impact through SDG Investor Maps; and 
- Promoting UNDP’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative, for nature-based solutions and biodiversity finance plans. In Shanghai, green finance regulations are now incorporating biodiversity considerations.

Besides boosting private finance and regulations, public finance must also be greened. This includes repurposing harmful subsidies, to make room for pro-nature and pro-climate finance.  Globally, subsidies for fossil fuels, agriculture and fisheries now exceed 7 trillion dollars per year, about 8 percent of global GDP. 

Thirdly, we need more international exchanges, to share sustainability strengths across countries: given the scale of transformation required to achieve the SDGs, no country can do this alone. 

New Zealand’s green development transformation is remarkable, including working towards a carbon-neutral public sector by 2025.  Many lessons around challenges and opportunities, along with best practices, can be shared, including in areas such as sustainable farming and eco-tourism, where China is expanding. 

Meanwhile, China can share its world-leading renewable energy technology, experiences and know-how. 

At the same time, broadening partnership platforms that build on both countries’ strengths and complementarities would help promote sustainable development in third countries, like Small Island Developing States (SIDS), or ASEAN members.

Whether we live in China, or New Zealand, we share one home: our Earth. And we must act as one now to save it.
As the saying goes here, “功在当代、利在千秋” – meaning: “efforts we are making now will benefit not only this generation, but many to come”. I believe there is a similar saying in Maori : “for us, and our children after us” – a shared hope, 11 thousand kilometers away, to leave this world a better place for those who follow. 

I hope today inspires closer cooperation to achieve that. 

Thank you for inviting me to speak.