An iceberg floats in Disko Bay behind houses during unseasonably warm weather in Ilulissat, Greenland. （PHOTO: VCG）

By Staff Reporters

A joint statement was released by BRICS countries to accelerate low -carbon transition and strengthen multilateral cooperation in tackling climate change issues at the BRICS High -level Meeting on Climate Change, hosted by China via video link on May 13.

In the statement, BRICS countries commit to strengthening collaboration on climate change, and deepening the contents of cooperation. Information exchanges and cooperation at multiple levels will be carried out in clean energy, low-carbon technology, sustainable and resilient infrastructure construction, carbon market and climate change adaptation. Policy research on low -carbon green growth, technology cooperation and joint pilot projects will also be jointly promoted.

With science and technology innovation as the driver, BRICS countries will promote the transition and upgrading of energy, resources, industrial structure and consumption structure, jointly exploring pathways for low-carbon and sustainable development, noted the statement.

Huang Runqiu, China's minister of ecology and environment, said together with fellow BRICS countries, China is willing to promote the full and effective implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

China is a big advocate of the response to climate change, said Huang, noting that China has finalized the top-level design on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality and basically established the "1+N" policy framework for this goal.

According to Huang, China's carbon intensity in 2020 decreased by around 48.4 percent compared with data in 2005, exceeding the 2020 climate action goal promised to the international community, and there was another year-on-year drop of 3.8 percent in 2021.

Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change, said that China will fully support the upcoming Egyptian Presidency of the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), hoping that the event could highlight the reinforcement of adaptation and financial aid to developing countries.