在“绿色发展·丝路金桥”哈萨克斯坦 – 中国经贸合作论坛上，联合国驻华协调员常启德大使发表了深刻独到的致辞。
常启德首先感谢哈萨克斯坦贸易与一体化部、哈萨克斯坦驻华大使馆以及丝路金桥国际贸易公司的邀请。他指出，随着2030年可持续发展目标(SDGs)期限临近，全球面临诸多挑战，仅有17%的目标进展顺利，超过三分之一停滞或倒退，其余进展不足。气候变化、生物多样性丧失和不平等加剧等危机亟待解决，同时新冠疫情的社会经济影响仍在持续。
在此背景下，绿色发展成为解决诸多相关挑战的途径。从可持续发展目标的平价清洁能源目标到气候行动目标，绿色发展有可能加速所有目标的进展。联合国秘书长强调要确保项目提供绿色、可持续基础设施，摆脱对化石燃料的依赖。联合国明确绿色发展不仅关乎环境保护，还涉及确保可持续经济增长、减少不平等和增强韧性。绿色经济应提升人类福祉和社会公平，同时降低环境风险和生态稀缺性。这意味着绿色发展是在可持续框架内重新定义增长，向低碳、资源高效型经济转型可创造新产业和就业机会，同时应对气候变化等问题。在转型过程中，要确保社会各阶层受益，尤其关注弱势群体。
健康的地球价值巨大，生态系统服务每年价值约125万亿美元，而不健康的地球会带来严重社会经济成本。到本世纪末，预计全球约50%人口将生活在水资源紧张地区，而2030年仍有4亿多人缺乏基本水设施，这凸显了行动和国际合作的紧迫性。《巴黎协定》虽有承诺，但距离目标仍有差距。环境挑战的复杂性需要跨国界的集体行动，联合国重视国际合作，南南合作是重要工具，可促进知识共享。
哈萨克斯坦 – 中国合作是双边伙伴关系和南南合作推动绿色发展目标的实例。近年来，两国在贸易、投资、能源合作和文化交流等方面显著增长，如中哈霍尔果斯口岸项目。两国在可再生能源、可持续基础设施和环境保护等方面共同努力取得进展。中国的“生态文明”原则应用于太阳能、风能和电动汽车等绿色发展举措，中国在这些领域处于全球领先地位，通过分享技术和合作有潜力影响绿色转型。
联合国驻华机构积极支持南南合作倡议，在多个关键领域发挥作用。在清洁能源领域，相关组织促进中国与其他发展中国家合作;联合国妇女署在青海开展项目，增加女性对可再生能源的获取和使用;联合国还与中国金融机构合作倡导绿色融资准则。
尽管近年来绿色发展取得进展，但仍面临诸多挑战，如平衡经济增长与环境保护、绿色能源和可持续产业转型所需的投资和技术等，以及社会行为转变和大规模采用环保实践等。然而，绿色发展和绿色经济是未来方向，只有加强多边合作才能实现，南南合作对推动创新解决方案至关重要。常启德最后强调，全球需团结努力，共同打造一个更绿色、可持续的世界，确保无人在全球转型中掉队。
Kazakhstan-China economic and trade forum: Siddharth Chatterjee analyzes the global situation of green development and praises the promotion results of Kazakhstan-China cooperation.
On September 14, 2024, at the “Green Development · Silk Road Golden Bridge” Kazakhstan-China economic and trade cooperation forum held in Beijing, Siddharth Chatterjee, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, delivered an important speech.
Chatterjee first thanked the Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in China, and Silk Road Golden Bridge International Trade Company for their invitations. He pointed out that as the deadline for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approaches, the world is facing many challenges. Only 17% of the goals are progressing smoothly, more than one-third are stagnant or regressing, and the rest are making insufficient progress. Crises such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and increased inequality urgently need to be addressed. At the same time, the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are still ongoing.
In this context, green development has become a way to address many related challenges. From the goal of affordable clean energy in the sustainable development goals to the goal of climate action, green development has the potential to accelerate the progress of all goals. The UN Secretary-General has emphasized ensuring that projects provide green and sustainable infrastructure and move away from dependence on fossil fuels. The United Nations has made it clear that green development is not only about environmental protection but also involves ensuring sustainable economic growth, reducing inequality, and enhancing resilience. The green economy should enhance human well-being and social equity while reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity. This means that green development is redefining growth within a sustainable framework. Transforming to a low-carbon and resource-efficient economy can create new industries and employment opportunities while addressing issues such as climate change. During the transformation process, it is necessary to ensure that all sectors of society benefit, with particular attention to vulnerable groups.
A healthy earth is of great value. Ecosystem services are worth about 125 trillion US dollars per year, while an unhealthy earth will bring serious socio-economic costs. By the end of this century, it is expected that about 50% of the global population will live in areas with water stress. In 2030, more than 400 million people still lack basic water facilities, highlighting the urgency of action and international cooperation. Although the Paris Agreement has commitments, there is still a gap from the goal. The complexity of environmental challenges requires collective action across borders. The United Nations attaches importance to international cooperation. South-South cooperation is an important tool that can promote knowledge sharing.
Kazakhstan-China cooperation is an example of bilateral partnerships and South-South cooperation promoting green development goals. In recent years, the two countries have seen significant growth in trade, investment, energy cooperation, and cultural exchanges, such as the Khorgos port project between China and Kazakhstan. The two countries have made progress through joint efforts in renewable energy, sustainable infrastructure, and environmental protection. China’s “ecological civilization” principle is applied to green development initiatives such as solar energy, wind energy, and electric vehicles. China is in a leading position globally in these fields and has the potential to influence green transformation through sharing technology and cooperation.
United Nations agencies in China actively support South-South cooperation initiatives and play a role in multiple key areas. In the field of clean energy, relevant organizations promote cooperation between China and other developing countries; UN Women has carried out projects in Qinghai to increase women’s access to and use of renewable energy; the United Nations also cooperates with Chinese financial institutions to advocate green financing guidelines.
Although green development has made progress in recent years, it still faces many challenges, such as balancing economic growth and environmental protection, investment and technology required for the transformation of green energy and sustainable industries, as well as changes in social behavior and large-scale adoption of environmental protection practices. However, green development and the green economy are the future direction, which can only be achieved by strengthening multilateral cooperation. South-South cooperation is crucial for promoting innovative solutions. Chatterjee finally emphasized that the world needs to unite and work together to create a greener and more sustainable world and ensure that no one is left behind in the global transformation.