（October 9, 2024）

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests,

Good afternoon, and good evening to those joining us from the Asia-Pacific region online! It is my great honor to welcome you all to this event organized by China on “Trade-related Climate Measures and Development—Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions.”

The humankind is at a critical moment in the global response to climate change. Swift, inclusive and just green transition is an urgent task. Yet, no universal policy recipes exist. All countries are actively exploring.

As a country with 1.4 billion people and an energy endowment rich in coal but poor in oil and gas reserves, China has made unswerving efforts to pursue to carbon ceiling and carbon neutrality, by 2030 and 2060 respectively. To achieve the targets, China has put in place a “1+N” policy framework, strengthening the coordination of fiscal, taxation, investment, financing, and other macroeconomic policies, reinforced market regulation, and improved public services.

By the end of 2023, the size of China's installed wind and photovoltaic power generation had increased tenfold compared to 10 years ago, with installed clean energy generation accounting for 58.2 per cent of the total installed capacity. China's development of new energy has also made a positive contribution to global emissions reduction. In 2023, China’s exports of wind power and PV products helped other countries reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 810 million tonnes.

Through its experience with energy transition, China fully recognizes the important role of trade and trade-related policies in global green transition, including the promotion of technological innovation and diffusion of technologies, the accessibility and affordability of low-carbon goods and services, the facilitation of mutual recognition and interoperability of carbon accounting methodologies, etc. In this regard, the multilateral trading system has an important role.

Recent years, there has been an increasing use of trade-related climate measures, or, in short, TrCMs, as important tools for reducing emissions and driving green transition. These measures bring both opportunities and challenges. On one hand, there is great potential to align trade policies with global climate objectives, to promote low-carbon technologies, and to foster new markets for green goods and services. On the other hand, concerns are also raised over equity and justness, as well as potential trade barriers of some TrCMs. Some measures, by their design, may even appear to be a pretext for unilateralism and protectionism and run counter to climate objectives.

Today’s discussions will dive into both opportunities and challenges posed by TrCMs, and possible solutions. The solutions that we seek must be collaborative, because no country can tackle climate change alone, and international cooperation across borders, sectors, and stakeholders is essential. The key question is how can we collectively build a positive trade agenda that supports green transition? How can we provide trade solutions that foster innovation, promote fairness, and drive sustainable growth to ensure “no one is left behind”?

Today, we are very honored to have a distinguished group of panelists from academia, industry, and research institutions from China, Europe and Africa, who will bring diverse perspectives on TrCMs and development. I also want to thank Dr. Carolyn DEERE BIRKBECK from TESS for moderating the Session. I look forward to a productive and insightful dialogue.

With that, I will give the floor back to our moderator, Carolyn and wish this event a complete success.

Thank you all.