Interview: China making huge progress in tackling climate change impacts, says Ashden CEO-Xinhua

Interview: China making huge progress in tackling climate change impacts, says Ashden CEO

Source: Xinhua| 2022-05-21 00:01:01|Editor: huaxia

KIGALI, May 20 (Xinhua) -- China has made huge progress in tackling the disastrous effects of climate change by deploying clean and renewable energy solutions, said Harriet Lamb, Chief Executive Officer of Ashden, a UK-based charity organization whose mission is to accelerate transformative climate solutions across the globe.

"China is a global superpower and is not only doing so much within China, but is such a key player within the global climate change talks," Lamb told Xinhua at the sidelines of the just concluded Sustainable Energy for All Forum 2022 (SEforALL Forum 2022) in the Rwandan capital city Kigali.

Rwanda hosted the global energy forum from May 17 to 19, the first of its kind to take place on the African continent.

"China is making huge progress and it is fantastic to see the growth of green energy and solar power within China. It is great China has also said it will stop funding coal power plants overseas. As with every other country, China still has a long way to go if we are really going to keep within 1.5 degrees and stop the planet warming," said Lamb.

She said that China is ready not only to increase her contribution to tackling climate change but also to support countries to adopt sustainable clean and renewable energy.

"As you may have seen, temperatures in India were reaching 49 degrees, I mean we are really staring catastrophe in the face and people who will be most affected are the poorest people," said Lamb.

"That is why every country including China needs to really make sure that these climate talks will discuss head on ending climate change and climate crisis but also supporting those without energy to have access to renewable energy," She added.

According to her, the solution is not to have more coal-fired power plants or more oil and gas because that is what is contributing to climate change and the effects of climate change often felt the most by the vulnerable and poorest people in society.

"The people who have done the least to climate change are paying the price. They are the most hated by the changing climate and they have the least resources to cope with it, and that is why we have to tackle both access to sustainable energy and the impact of climate change together," she explained.

Lamb said that the 2022 Sustainable Energy for All Forum discussed strategies and policies needed to adopt so that gradually more and more people have access to clean renewable energy.

"By 2030, we should meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) where everybody has access to clean sustainable energy," she added.

The SEforALL Forum serves as a platform to broker new partnerships, spur investment, address challenges and drive action towards realizing Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) and a global clean energy transition.

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