On the 13th and 14th March of 2018, at the invitation of the Ministry of Environment, a Chinese delegation headed by Xie Zhenhua, China’s Special Representative on Climate Change Affairs, was hosted in Poland. This visit is connected with Poland’s preparations for the COP24 summit, which will be held in Katowice in 2018, it is also another step towards continuation of good cooperation between the two countries.
During the first day, Xie Zhenhua met with Vice-Minister of Environment Małgorzata Golińska and General Director of State Forests Andrzej Konieczny at the Celestynów Forest Education Centre. The Polish side presented an innovative project of Forest Carbon Farms, which aims to increase the accumulation of CO2 by forests.
The Polish-Chinese partnership in the field of forestry has been going on for a long time, since both countries have concluded an agreement pertaining to aspects such as forestry policy, sustainable management in this area, as well the use and protection of forests.
On the COP24 Summit
During the second day of their stay in Poland, the Chinese delegation met with the Minister of Environment Henryk Kowalczyk and Vice-Minister Sławomir Mazurek in Warsaw. The topics discussed during the meeting comprised preparations for the climate summit and the possibility of supporting the Chinese side in the process of adopting the full package implementing the Paris Agreement, which is the most important objective of the COP24 Summit in Katowice. Both sides also exchanged experiences and knowledge on adaptation to climate change.
“We declare that we are going to further develop our partnership with China in the field of climate change, including absorption of CO2 by soils and forests. We are counting on an exchange of experience and knowledge in the area of the emissions inventory and trading system,” said Henryk Kowalczyk, Minister of Environment, during the meeting.
At the same time, the minister stressed that Poland would support China in developing its CO2 emission inventory system.
UN COP24 Summit
COP24 or the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will take place on the 3rd – 14th of December 2018 in Katowice. The event will be attended by nearly 40000 delegates from all over the world, including heads of governments and ministers responsible for environment and climate issues.
The plan for the COP24 summit is to adopt a full package implementing the Paris Agreement. The Agreement is the first international agreement in history, which compels all countries in the world to take action on climate protection. The implementation package will allow for the implementation of the Agreement in practice. It will thus set global climate and energy policy for the coming years.
Ministry of Environment