China envoy at UN calls for more clean energy

China is actively promoting energy cooperation to help developing countries improve the penetration rate of modern, clean energy and reach the goal of sustainable development.

Those were the words of Wu Haitao, deputy permanent representative of China to the United Nations.

Wu spoke on Wednesday at the "High-level Symposium on Global Energy Interconnection: Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals".

The symposium was organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs in collaboration with the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization at United Nations headquarters in New York.

Wu called for that the international community to speed up the implementation of sustainable development goals in energy. He suggested that countries combine that implementation with their national development strategy.

He said that China, which upholds an innovative, coordinative, green, open, shared development concept, has combined the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda with its 13th Five-Year Plan and national long-term development strategy.

Wu called for the establishment of a more equitable and more balanced global partnership for development.

"Developed countries should fulfill their commitment to official development assistance, particularly in the area of energy and increase support for developing countries, particularly for Africa and underdeveloped countries, in terms of funding, technology and capacity-building," he said.

"At the same time, South-South cooperation should be further strengthened, and infrastructure and interconnection construction and international production cooperation should be strengthened to achieve complementary advantages," Wu added.

Third, Wu suggested that international development include a balanced win-win and inclusive multilateral trade system to form a fair, transparent international economic and trade and investment system.

He said that the creation and development of global energy interconnection would play a positive role in promoting transformation in global energy, energy allocation and energy consumption, and will contribute to the development of clean energy industries.

"It would inject new impetus into the implementation of the 2030 agenda, to promote the global economy to achieve strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth," he added.

United Nations Secretary-General Antnio Guterres said that a growing population and the increasing effects of climate change underline the need to transform the world's energy systems so they can fulfill needs without pollution.

He said that the world is still far from achieving the vision of Sustainable Development Goal 7 of affordable and clean energy for all, with some 1 billion people still living without access to any electricity, and 3 billion people still cooking and heating their homes without clean fuels.

xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com