unep-C hina C ollaBoration
3 China’s SSCCC initiatives
China is an active advocate and practitioner of South-South cooperation. Over the past 60 years, China has supported and participated in South-South cooperation in various fields, providing significant support to other developing countries in terms of capital, technology and capacity.29 Since the late 1990s, China has sponsored regional cooperation mechanisms and platforms, such as the China-ASEAN Sum-mit,30 the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)31 and the China-Com-munity of Latin American and Caribbean States Forum (China-CELAC Forum),32 to strengthen group consultation in response to the development needs of various regions.
Climate change has been introduced as a rather new area of Chinese foreign aid overseen by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Since the 1980s, China has undertaken biogas, small-scale hydro, solar and wind power projects in many coun-tries; in addition to training programmes on climate change, forest management and desertification treatment and prevention. China has ‘steadily increased’ the scope and volume of its support to other developing countries in addressing climate change following the worsening of global warming in recent years.33 For example, in 2009 China announced eight new assistance measures under the FOCAC, includ-ing assistance for climate change.34
China’s growing support for SSCCC has been oriented by the Outline of the 12th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. Released in March 2011, this Plan states that China will ‘increase economic and technical aid to de-veloping countries in the areas of livelihood and social welfare, public facilities, and self-development capacity building’ and ‘provide help and support to developing countries in confronting the challenges of climate change’.35 Currently, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), as the leading agency on climate change in China, takes leadership in SSCCC. Meanwhile, a number of other Min-istries of the Chinese State Council, including, inter alia, MOFCOM, the Minis-try of Science and Technology (MOST), the MinisMinis-try of Agriculture (MOA), the
29 China’s Information Office of the State Council (IOSC), ‘White papers on China’s Foreign Aid’ (2011), available at <http://www.gov.cn/english/official/2011-04/21/content_1849913.htm> (visited 28 April 2016).
30 See <http://www.asean.org/asean/external-relations/china/>.
31 See <http://www.focac.org/eng/>. See also Agi Veres, ‘FOCAC – A Special Means to Support Africa’s Development Priorities’ (UNDP, 2015), available at <http://www.cn.undp.org/content/china/en/home/
presscenter/op-eds/2015/12/focac-_-a-special-means-to-support-africas-development-prioritie.html>
(visited 28 April 2016).
32 See <http://www.chinacelacforum.org/eng/>.
33 IOSC, ‘White papers on China’s Foreign Aid’, supra note 29.
34 FOCAC, ‘Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Sharm El Sheikh Action Plan’ (2009), available at
<http://www.focac.org/eng/ltda/dsjbzjhy/hywj/t626387.htm> (visited 28 April 2016).
35 Xinhua News Agency, ‘China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development’
(issued in Chinese 16 March 2011), available at <http://www.gov.cn/2011lh/content_1825838.htm>
(visited 28 April 2016).
State Forestry Administration (SFA) and the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), have also been engaged with aspects of SSCCC within their specialist work areas.
In 2013, China initiated its ambitious ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative, comprising the overland ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’, which revitalises historic trade routes from China through central Asia to Europe and through sea routes to many other countries. Although the ‘One Belt One Road’
founding documents contain no specific mention of environmental issues, it has been claimed that this initiative will, inter alia, ‘highlight the concept of ecological civilization in investment and trade, strengthen the cooperation on ecological envi-ronment, biodiversity and climate change, so as to build with joint efforts a green silk road’.36 It is likely to provide numerous opportunities for SSCCC, through the building of climate-proof infrastructure, green international trade and technology transfer, especially with support from the newly established Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).37
China has truly become a global leader in promoting and supporting SSCCC, with recent commitments announced on more than one occasion.38 These include the following:
• In 2011, at the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa, the then Vice-Chairman of the National Devel-opment and Reform Commission (NDRC), Xie Zhenhua, announced that China would allocate support of USD 31 million (CNY 200 million) to assist the Least Developed Countries (LDCs),39 Small Island Developing States (SIDS)40 and African countries in addressing climate change over the next three years. This pledge was reiterated by the then Premier, Wen Jiabao, at the UNCSD (the Rio+20 Earth Summit) in June 2012.
• In September 2014, at the UN Climate Summit in New York, USA, Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli pledged to double China’s annual financial sup-port to SSCCC, set up the South-South Cooperation Fund on Climate
36 National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Com-merce of the People’s Republic of China, ‘Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road’ (1st ed. issued with State Council authorization, 2015), available at <en.ndrc.gov.cn/newsrelease/201503/t20150330_669367.html> (visited 28 April 2016).
37 See <http://www.aiib.org/>.
38 Moritz Weigel, ‘More money, more impact? China’s Climate Change South-South Cooperation to date and future trends’ (United Nations Development Programme in China, 2016), available at <http://www.
cn.undp.org/content/china/en/home/presscenter/articles/2016/04/22/undp-china-releases-pioneer-ing-study-on-china-s-south-south-cooperation-on-climate-change-mitigation-and-adaptation.html>
(visited 28 April 2016).
39 See <http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/cdp/ldc/ldc_list.pdf>.
40 See <https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/sids>.
Change and provide USD 6 million (CNY 38 million) to the UN Secretary General for advancing SSCCC within the UN System.41
• In December 2014, at a high-level forum on SSCCC held in Lima, Peru, in the margins of UNFCCC COP20, the then Vice-Chairman of NDRC, Xie Zhenhua, officially initiated China’s South-South Cooperation Climate Fund, pledging USD 20 million per year.42
• In June 2015, China submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Con-tribution (INDC) under the UNFCCC, which outlines China’s planned actions on climate change to be taken by 2030. China commits to establish the Fund for SSCCC, providing assistance and support, within its means, to other developing countries to address climate change.43
• In September 2015, during his first state visit to the United States, Presi-dent Xi Jinping announced that China will make available USD 3.1 bil-lion (CNY 20 bilbil-lion) for setting up the China South-South Climate Co-operation Fund to support other developing countries to combat climate change.44
• On 30 November 2015, at UNFCCC COP21 in Paris, France, President Xi Jinping reiterated the establishment of an CNY 20 billion South-South Climate Cooperation Fund and announced that China will launch cooper-ation projects to set up 10 pilot low-carbon industrial parks and start 100 mitigation and adaptation programs in other developing countries and pro-vide them with 1,000 training opportunities on climate change.45
The above commitments have been incorporated into China’s current (13th) Five-Year Plan and will steer China’s development path in the next five years (2016–
2020). The Plan provides a substantive framework for the implementation of Chi-na’s INDC under the UNFCCC, but also indicates that ‘[China will] play the full role of the South-South Climate Cooperation Fund in supporting other developing countries to address climate change’.46
41 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ‘Zhang Gaoli Attends UN Climate Summit and Delivers Speech’ (24 Sep-tember 2014), available at <http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1194544.shtml> (visited 28 April 2016).
42 Liu Hongqiao, ‘China pledges USD20 million a year to its new South-South Cooperation Fund’ (12 December 2014), available at <https://www.chinadialogue.net/blog/7596-China-pledges-US-2-million-a-year-to-its-new-South-South-Cooperation-Fund/en> (visited 28 April 2016).
43 National Development and Reform Commission, ‘Enhanced Actions on Climate Change: China’s In-tended Nationally Determined Contribution’ (June 2015), available at <www4.unfccc.int/submissions/
INDC/Published%20Documents/China/1/China’s%20INDC%20-%20on%2030%20June%202015.
pdf> (visited 28 April 2016), at 16.
44 White House, ‘U.S.-China Joint Presidential Statement on Climate Change’ (25 September 2015), available at <http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/25/us-china-joint-presidential-state-ment-climate-change> (visited 28 April 2016).
45 China Daily, ‘Full text of President Xi’s speech at opening ceremony of Paris climate summit’, 1 December 2015, available at <http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/XiattendsParisclimateconference/2015-12/01/
content_22592469.htm> (visited 28 April 2016).
46 Xinhua News Agency, ‘China’s 13th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development’ (is-sued in Chinese 17 March 2015), available at <news.xinhuanet.com/2016-03/17/c_1118366322.htm>
(visited 28 April 2016).