Interview: China's green development sends important message for world-- WWF executive

by Martina Fuchs

GENEVA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The vision of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping sends an important message about accelerating green development and tackling climate change, said an official of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

"China's green development is incredibly important," Tanya Steele, CEO of the UK office of WWF, told Xinhua in a virtual interview, noting the vision emphasizes that a healthy environment is just as important as, and even contributes to, economic prosperity because "nature underpins our whole economy and our society as well."

"The role that China has played in recent years, particularly in accelerating its development from a very heavy industrial environment to one that is much more about sustainable development, is important for China at home, but also sends a very important signal around the world as well," said Steele.

Asked about China's current and future role in the fight against climate change, Steele said the world is "looking at China right now when we think about climate change" not only because of the scale of China's economy, but also because of the progress the country is making.

In 2020, China announced its dual carbon goals of peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

"I think that this signal of the dual carbon targets was very well received. But again, importantly, the progress that China is making is critical," Steele said.

Steele added that progress has been made in a number of areas, including renewable energy like solar and wind power, lithium batteries and their adoption across the Chinese society.

China's efforts to develop renewable energy and green its supply chain in the future will not only benefit China at home, but also benefit economies around the world, said Steele.

Steele, who is due to travel to China for the National Ecology Day, told Xinhua that the WWF is eager to further boost cooperation with China.

China's National Ecology Day is celebrated on Aug. 15 to raise public awareness and promote actions to protect the ecological environment.

"We're very proud of our cooperation with our Chinese partners over the past decades. We would like to both deepen and widen it as well," she said. "First, this includes supporting the green transition, particularly by helping businesses set science-based targets in renewables and the energy sector overall."

"We could also build on biodiversity, we have a lot of experience inside China, but also around the world in terms of ecosystem restoration and protection. And we're very proud of our association with the protection of the giant panda."

Based in Gland, Switzerland, the WWF is an independent conservation organization, with over 30 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries and regions.

Another area of collaboration with China is climate change and nature loss, she added.

"We'd like to increasingly work with China, particularly across the Global South, to enable green trade and sustainable use of our incredibly important natural assets, both for us today, and the future generations to come," she said. ■