BEIJING: Beijing vowed Friday to uphold the Paris climate accord after the United States withdrew from the pact, saying it was a “responsibility shouldered by China as a responsible major country.”
“We think the Paris accord reflects the widest agreement of the international community with regards to climate change, and parties should cherish this hard-won outcome,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
“We also hear that our actions and leading role are applauded by the international community,” Hua told reporters. “We will earnestly implement our obligations.”
Hua spoke in Beijing as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels where the two sides were expected to adopt a joint statement stressing their commitment to the Paris deal.
Hua said China wants to strengthen cooperation with various parties to “push for the follow-up negotiations on the articles of the agreement and promote low-carbon green development.”
Despite Washington’s withdrawal from the agreement, Hua said: “We also stand ready to cooperate with the international community members including the US to push forward green, low-carbon development globally.”
President Donald Trump caused international consternation on Thursday when he announced the United States was ditching the agreement, arguing that it was too lenient on China, India and Europe.
China and the US, the world’s first and second biggest polluters respectively, are together responsible for some 40 percent of the world’s emissions and experts had warned it is vital for both to remain in the Paris agreement if it is to have any chance of succeeding.
But China has also been investing billions in clean energy infrastructure, as its leaders battle to clear up the notorious choking pollution that envelops its biggest cities, including Beijing.
Hua said the Chinese government will take “concrete action” in response to climate change.
“This is a responsibility shouldered by China as a responsible major country and what China’s development calls for,” she said.
China’s official Xinhua news agency published a commentary earlier saying that Washington’s withdrawal was a “global setback.”
“Trump’s decision to ditch the Paris deal will leave a fairly big shoe for a single country to fill,” Xinhua wrote.
“But other major players including the European Union, China and India have reiterated their willingness to step up efforts in the face of the US change of heart over the landmark deal,” it said.
China vows to uphold climate pact after US pullout
China vows to uphold climate pact after US pullout
No sign Iran’s nuclear sites were hit, IAEA says, but Iran alleges one was
VIENNA: The UN nuclear watchdog has no indication Israeli and US attacks on Iran have hit any nuclear facilities, its chief Rafael Grossi told the agency’s Board of Governors on Monday, moments before Iran’s envoy said one was targeted a day earlier.
Iran’s nuclear program has been among the reasons Israel and the US have given for the attacks, alleging Iran was getting too close to being able to eventually make an atom bomb.
At the same time, what remains of Iran’s atomic facilities after the two militaries attacked them in June appears to have been largely spared in this campaign so far.
“We have no indication that any of the nuclear installations ... have been damaged or hit,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement to a meeting of his agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors.
What that assessment was based on is unclear, since he also said his agency had not been able to reach its counterparts in Iran. Tehran has not let the IAEA return to its bombed facilities since they were attacked in June.
“Efforts to contact the Iranian nuclear regulatory authorities ... continue, with no response so far. We hope this indispensable channel of communication can be re-established as soon as possible,” he said.
Moments later, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters outside the closed-door meeting that the sprawling nuclear complex at Natanz had been attacked.
Natanz housed two uranium-enrichment plants that were attacked in June — an above-ground one that the IAEA says was destroyed and an underground one that was at least badly damaged, among other facilities.
“Again they attacked Iran’s peaceful, safeguarded nuclear facilities yesterday,” Najafi said. Asked by Reuters which facilities were hit, he replied: “Natanz” and left.
