On June 29, 2019 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian of France and Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) António Guterres held a trilateral meeting over climate change on the sidelines of the G20 Osaka Summit. Wang Yi chaired the meeting and expounded the stance and propositions of the Chinese side on addressing climate change, calling upon all parties to honor their commitments and take concrete actions in building a pleasant, clean and beautiful world for future generations.

Wang Yi noted that President Xi Jinping emphasized at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that green should be the fundamental of the Belt and Road Initiative. China's resolution to tackle climate change will never be shaken, with achievements widely recognized. In 2018, China's carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product have reduced by 45.8 percent compared with that in 2005, while the proportion of non-fossil energy in energy consumption has increased by 14.3 percent. China also officially launched a national carbon emission trading system which lays a solid foundation for controlling greenhouse gas emissions.

Wang Yi emphasized that addressing climate change is like running a marathon which requires both strong motivation and rock-solid persistence. The first is firm faith. Retreats of several nations will not hinder the progress of the whole world. We should strive to create a positive atmosphere of responding to climate change with actions at the international level. The second is to uphold principles. We must adhere to principles of multilateralism, fairness, "common but differentiated responsibilities" and respective capabilities, and show respect to special national conditions of developing countries. The third is resolute actions. We should combine tackling climate change with advancing economic development to accelerate the transformation towards green and low-carbon economy. We need to mobilize resources and strengths of the whole society to intensify the efforts before 2020 and summarize the actions before 2020. The fourth is to insist on cooperation. As climate change is a global challenge, we are left with no choices but to stay in the same boat to overcome the difficulties. Developed countries should fulfill their commitment to provide and mobilize US$100 billion each year for climate finance by 2020, transfer advanced technology to developing countries, and help them build up capacity to cope with climate change.

Wang Yi noted that Secretary-General António Guterres will host the 2019 Climate Action Summit in September, marking an important node in the course of global climate governance. The Chinese side will actively support the preparation work of the summit. As the initiator of the "Nature Based Solutions", the Chinese side will focus on sustainable natural resources and push for a package solution while lending support to the work of the French side as the initiator of "Climate Finance & Carbon Pricing".

Participants have an in-depth exchange of views on global climate governance. Jean-Yves Le Drian noted that France and China have a sound cooperation on tackling global climate change and that the French side is willing to join hands with the Chinese side to send a clear message to promote the implementation of details of the Paris Agreement. He supported and wished the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2020 to be hosted by China a complete success. António Guterres said that the UN values China's pivotal role in tackling climate change, and praised the Chinese side's efforts in initiating the "Nature Based Solutions". The UN is willing to work with China and France to encourage relevant nations to do their part. China, France and the UN achieved unanimous understanding that every nation should have firm faith, adhere to multilateralism, honor their commitments made under the Paris Agreement, and jointly push for fruitful results of the UN Climate Action Summit and the 25th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to inject new strong impetus into global climate governance.

After the meeting, Wang Yi, Jean-Yves Le Drian and António Guterres met the press. A press statement was issued at the meeting.