China tells U.S. to take actions, not empty words on climate change

Tackling climate change requires concrete action, not empty words, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday in response to U.S. President Joe Biden's accusation that China "walked away" from the issue of climate change. 

Biden had made the remarks at the 26th United Nations Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP26).

"China adds about 12,000 hectares of forest area and 90,000 kW of installed photovoltaic capacity on average per day. We are building a batch of large-scale wind and PV projects with a total size of nearly 30 million kW," Wang told the press, stressing that China's actions on climate change are "real."

Noting successful governance relies on solid action and actions speak louder than words, Wang said China and the U.S. had made joint efforts to push the Paris Agreement, but later the U.S. withdrawal disrupted global climate governance and the agreement's implementation.

Welcoming the U.S.'s return to the climate pact, Wang voiced hope that the U.S. side will earnestly shoulder its due responsibilities, come up with and implement specific policies and measures on emissions reduction as soon as possible, honor its funding commitments, and stop chopping and changing all the time.