On November 30, 2018 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-held a trilateral meeting on climate change with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian of France and Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the G20 Buenos Aires Summit. Wang Yi expounded on the stance and proposal of the Chinese side on advancing international cooperation in tackling climate change in his speech, calling on all countries to take responsibility, get down to action, and strengthen coordination to jointly promote multilateral process of global climate.

At the meeting, Wang Yi stressed three key words, namely commitment, action, and coordination. He said that three years ago, President Xi Jinping pointed out at the Climate Change Conference in Paris that the Paris Agreement did not represent an end, but a new starting point. The 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Katowice of Poland is an important step in the multilateral process of climate change, and it is crucial for boosting the confidence of all parties in tackling climate change through cooperation and in pushing forward the full and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Wang Yi expressed that China's conviction to address climate change is firm. The Chinese side has been fully implementing the concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, and vigorously implementing the National Program on Climate Change (2014-2020). The Chinese side has taken the lead in issuing China's National Plan on Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and unwaveringly followed the path of green, low carbon and sustainable development.

Wang Yi emphasized that China has been consistent in its attitude towards multilateral process of global climate, and always committed to strengthening global climate governance and carrying out in-depth South-South cooperation in climate change. Through the joint construction of the green Belt and Road Initiative, China has deepened cooperation in low carbon development with all parties to build global ecological civilization. The Chinese side is willing to, together with the French side and the UN, take firm steps forward and promote the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Katowice for comprehensive, balanced, and positive outcomes, in a bid to make greater contributions to the building of a clean and beautiful world and the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Wang Yi called on all parties to honestly fulfill their commitments in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, intensify pre-2020 actions, implement nationally determined contributions, and push forward global transition to green and low carbon development.

The participating parties expressed agreement on the stance of the Chinese side. Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed that the French side is willing to strengthen dialogue and cooperation in climate change with the Chinese side, including supporting developing countries’ transition to green and low-carbon development through trilateral cooperation. The French side firmly believes that the Chinese side will successfully host the 2020 UN Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP15). Antonio Guterres thanked the Chinese side for its important leadership in the global response to climate change and appreciated China and France for leading the international community to actively cope with the great challenges facing climate change. The three parties agreed that the international community should work together to utter a unanimous voice on tackling climate change and jointly promote significant progress at the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

After the meeting, Wang Yi, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and Antonio Guterres jointly met the press. The meeting issued a press communiqué.