The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on China to show global leadership on the issue of climate change.
Speaking in Shanghai where he had just arrived to meet with President Xi Jinping and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, Mr Ban put the partnership between the UN and China sharply in the spotlight.
Mr Ban was speaking before outlining key global challenges at the city’s premiere institute for the study of international politics, economy and security strategy.
“This is a time of enormous challenge,” Mr. Ban told an audience at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies (SIIS).
“I look to China to provide global leadership, and I look to all of you to provide ideas and encouragement.”
“We all know what scientists and the public are telling us.
“It is in all our interest to address climate change now!” he stressed in his remarks to SIIS.
China is “on the frontlines of the fight,” Mr Ban added, with new carbon markets, large investments in renewable energy and strong new laws on pollution.
Senior Chinese representatives are due to participate in a climate summit at the UN Headquarters in New York in September where Mr Ban said he is “calling on all leaders to be on the right side of history.”
The UN chief, who earlier arrived in China, highlighted in his speech the conflicts in Syria, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Ukraine, as well as the maritime tensions in Asia.
“We must never forget that all tensions are best resolved through dialogue and in accordance with the principles enshrined in the UN Charter,” he urged.
He noted some long-term risks and trends, among them growing inequality, the rise of intolerance and prevalent injustice which all contribute to the aggravating insecurity.
“The impacts of climate change are being felt already and will affect generations to come,” he said, noting that key resources are in progressively shorter supply.
To overcome these and other challenges, the UN “must rise to the moment”, he said stressing that a series of efforts would be crucial over the next 18 months.
This time frame was a reference to the deadline to reach the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“One of the goals was to cut poverty and hunger by half by the year 2015,” he said.
“Thanks in large measure to China; the world has met that ambition years in advance.”
The international community is now shaping a post-2015 development agenda, which “will allow us to focus on sustainable development as a model for the global economy,” Mr Ban said.
China’s role in sustainable development was also discussed today during a bilateral meeting between Mr Ban and President Xi.
A UN spokesperson said Mr Ban also expressed gratitude for China’s “strong support and contribution” to the UN’s work to promote peace and security, and human rights.
Among the specific issues covered, the two leaders discussed issues related to the Korean Peninsula, and the situation in Myanmar.
In an earlier meeting, Mr Ban and Foreign Minister Yi agreed that there was a need to work together on issues related to human rights and the “Every Woman, Every Child” initiative to improve the health of women and children around the world, as well as climate change.
