China News Service, Istanbul, November 13 (Wei Yuan, Wang Gaofei, Wu Xinru) "In climate collaboration and partnership, countries in the Global South must become co-builders." Rajendra Shende, former director of the Ozone Action Division of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), said that countries in the Global South should build partnerships that focus on implementation and effectively transform climate commitments into action results.
On November 12, local time, the "China-Turkey Ecological Civilization and Green Transformation Dialogue" was held in Istanbul, Turkey during the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The dialogue was hosted by China News Service and Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization Research Center, and co-organized by China News Network and the Environmental and Economic Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
This is the second time that the China News Agency's "News Living Room" has held a series of multilateral events in Turkey. Representatives from Chinese and Turkish government departments, research institutions, enterprises, media and other parties attended the meeting. Shandi expressed the above views at the meeting in the form of a video speech.
He said that mankind has made great progress in the fields of science and technology and industry, but the understanding of "harmonious coexistence with nature" still needs to be improved. This is the fundamental challenge facing ecological civilization and the coexistence of man and nature.
Ecological civilization is not just about developing a green economy. Its core is to reshape the relationship between human development and nature. In his view, China's emphasis on ecological civilization and the harmonious coexistence of man and nature provides important philosophical support for this. As the host country of COP31, Türkiye can help turn dialogue into cooperation and action.
Shandi pointed out that for a long time, the global South has often been simply regarded as the recipient of climate finance and technical assistance, and this perception is outdated. The Global South is itself a hotbed of innovation, with manufacturing capacity, indigenous traditional knowledge and young talent. For example, he said that China, India, Turkey, and Latin American, African, and Central Asian countries can form synergies. For example, India can leverage its advantages in manpower and innovation, China can provide green technology support, and Turkey can serve as a cross-regional bridge to connect Africa, Latin America, Pacific island countries, and other Asian countries.
As an authoritative expert in the field of global ozone layer protection and climate governance, Shandi has played a central role in promoting the negotiation and global implementation of the Montreal Protocol. He believes that the key to effective environmental diplomacy is to make international agreements a tool for building transformative partnerships, rather than just a declaration of intent. All parties should abide by the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respect differences in national conditions and capabilities of each country.
In his speech, he called on countries in the Global South to establish an ecological action partnership and promote the transformation of climate commitments into practical actions.
"The 21st century should not be marked by the height of technology and the unsolvable ecological crisis, but by the harmonious coexistence of man and nature as the mark of the times." He said that he looked forward to gathering local changes into global actions and allowing COP31 to hear loud voices from the global South.
