Experts Call For More International Cooperation To Address Climate Change

The officials and experts from China, Pakistan, United Kingdom (UK), India and Canada called for more international cooperation to address climate change and green, low-carbon and sustainable development at an international forum held in Beijing and Lhasa, and online with people joining from around the world on Tuesday night

BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Feb, 2021 ) :The officials and experts from China, Pakistan, United Kingdom (UK), India and Canada called for more international cooperation to address climate change and green, low-carbon and sustainable development at an international forum held in Beijing and Lhasa, and online with people joining from around the world on Tuesday night.

The China Tibet Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation was co-hosted by China's Foreign Ministry and Tibet's regional government.

Former UN Secretary-General and Chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, Ban Ki-Moon, Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Chairperson of Committee on Foreign Affairs of Senate of Pakistan, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Founder and CEO of Energy Foundation of the US Hal Harvey, Canadian Senator Victor Oh, Aide to former Indian Prime Minister and Founder of the Forum for a New South Asia, Dr Sudheendra Kulkarni and Vice President of AIIB, sir Danny Alexander attended and spoke at the opening ceremony.

China's Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui said at the opening ceremony of the forum that transnational cooperation is needed to address transnational problems.

He noted that currently climate change is the most urgent non-traditional security challenge that facing humanity.

Luo noted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the end of the Cold War and non-traditional security challenges have become more frequent.

From the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the September 11 attacks in 2001, to the international financial crisis in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic that is still raging the world, all show that the non-traditional security challenges pose great threats to the survival, security and development of humanity.

They also show that addressing those non-translational security challenges needs transnational cooperation and no country can detach itself from it.

"We are happy to see that the US government announced its return to the Paris Agreement," Luo said.

Xie Zhenhua, special adviser for Climate Change Affairs of China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that the trans-Himalaya region is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change.

The region provides resources, environmental and ecological protection to nearly 2 billion people. The impact of the global climate change can be felt strongly in the region, Xie said.

China has shouldered its responsibility as a great power in the world in addressing climate change. China has also helped other developing countries to address climate change including offering training classes and donating goods, he added.

He called for the US to play its role in the multilateral process and international cooperation on climate change.

Hal Harvey, Founder and CEO of Energy Innovation, said, "We win together or we lose together. America needs China's leadership if we are to avoid terrible climate change. China needs America's leadership if we are to avoid terrible climate change.'' � At forum, Wu Yingjie, Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Tibet Autonomous Region, also introduced the achievements Tibet has made in protecting the environment. Tibet is now one of the regions with the best ecological protection in the world, he said.

Mushahid Hussain Syed shared his views on climate change and transnational cooperation between countries in these regions.

He called for collective efforts to protect ecological environment of Himalayan region and appreciated President Xi Jinping for his vision about climate change and low-carbon.

This is the third Trans-Himalaya cooperation forum hosted by the Tibet regional government. Since 2018, Tibet regional government has hosted two such forums in Nyingchi, Tibet, aiming to facilitate regional connectivity, communications and cooperation which yielded fruitful results.