Why Millennials in the United States and China are Partnering for the Paris Climate Talks

Tired of being disenfranchised  by our governments in the negotiating process because of our age, youth leaders from the United States and China are working together to prepare for the United Nations climate talks  that will take place in Paris this December. We are brought together by our shared concern for our future and the solutions we know we can build together.

 

Last year, U.S. and Chinese youth released a joint statement calling on our governments to be leaders by making stronger commitments to address climate change.

 

Our partnership has grown, and I recently had the opportunity to travel to the Seventh Annual International Youth Summit on Energy and Climate Change (IYSECC) in Shenzhen, China. While there, I met with long-time youth partners from the China Youth Climate Action Network (CYCAN), the host organization of IYSECC, and a number of youth from the Asia-Pacific region.

 

What I learned is that, just like youth in America, Chinese youth are craving to find unique ways to bring climate change to the forefront of concerns that they want their government to address. To share these learnings, I sat down with Mia Zhou, a young environmental leader from Maoming, China to talk about her concerns and opinions going into Paris.

 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

 

Natalie Lucas: Mia, you were such a powerful speaker at the IYSECC 7.0 conference last month and I think it is important for youth in the U.S. to hear your story. First, can you tell me what is it like to be a young environmentalist in modern China today?

 

Mia Zhou: I grew up in Maoming, a city next to the southern coast of China. After building Sinopec Maoming Company in 1950s, 60% GDP of Maoming depends on petrochemical industry, which succeeds greatly in international market. Living in this city, citizens are used to pungent air when raining or windy conditions.

In 2011, my last year in senior high, Maoming’s mayor, Mr. Luo committed bribery exceeding 70 million RMB. Shocked by the news, I wondered about the possibility of ending wrong-doings by optimizing mechanisms of internal political systems, I chose international politics as my major when applying for Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU).

Although I have learned about politics for the past four years, I don’t have enough confidence about it under Chinese context. On March 30th of 2014, some citizens in Maoming stood up together to protest a Paraxylene (PX) project in front of government. It was the first time that the people of Maoming expressed their voice on environmental issue, through non-violent action, which I had doubted its effectiveness from the era of Gandhi for a long time.

 

NL: That is an incredible story and one that seems to affect you very personally. What do you hope to see in your hometown to correct these environmental and corruption issues?

 

MZ: The PX issue in Maoming made me realize that everyone is responsible for protecting where we live, our city, our country and our earth. Combined with my Maoming background, I will study Master of International Energy in Sciences Po for two years. I want to propose an more effective and environmental approach to develop petrochemical industry in Maoming, by borrowing political operation and supervision systems from other countries.

 

NL: What role are Chinese youth playing in the climate movement today?

 

MZ: Climate change covers a wide range of topics and international youth can take measures on everything. It’s useless to just provide slogans. Three years ago, in my campus, Environmental Protection Association called for the conscious waste separation after dinner. They designed poster, collected signatures and communicated with the canteen.

Finally the canteen adopted their suggestion to add more garbage bins for different type of waste. Three years passed, three other campuses have also followed the measure and students have already developed the habit to separate paper, plastic and kitchen waste by themselves.  

 

NL: That is a great reminder that U.S. and Chinese youth have so much in common when working on local issues and international issues. What do you think of the current climate commitments that the U.S. and China have made?

 

MZ: Overall, the current climate commitments that the U.S. and China have made are positive to global climate change, but it is not enough. On the one hand, the U.S. and China are both focusing on climate change mitigation but ignore other fields such as adaptation, funds and technology.

Related to adaptation, funds and technology, both two countries expressed vague statements, without any promise. Actually, these fields are equally as important as mitigation. Especially for developing countries, which carry lower responsibility on the history of global carbon emission but influenced easily by climate change, the lack of support on adaptation, funds and technology will affect their confidence and policy to the response of climate change.

On the other hand, although in Sino-US Joint Statement on Climate, U.S. and China claimed the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’, which was admitted by Lima call for climate action.

 

NL: I think that is a good assessment and I think it’s important to continue pushing our governments to be more ambitious in Paris. What do you hope the U.S. and China will do in Paris?

 

MZ: The contradiction of climate fairness still obviously exist between developed countries and developing countries. Developed countries oppose the idea of taking ‘historical responsibility’ because those developing countries which go into the industrialized accelerated phase will also create large carbon emission. In contrast, developing countries still insist the idea of ‘historical responsibility’. Whether from responsibility or from the moral standpoint, U.S., China and EU should take the initiative to assume a leadership role in the field of climate change.

 

NL: How do you think international youth should work together on climate change?

 

MZ:  Climate change is an international issue which asks for global cooperation and we must start by sharing information. For example, in the upcoming climate talks in Paris, in order to achieve the goal of controlling warming within 2 degrees, every country has to try their best to put forward reasonable commitments.

The negotiation process is not directly accessible for youth to provide input on these important topics. On the other hand, because of languages, region and public policy, many regional climate information cannot be spread globally.

For better international youth cooperation, it is necessary and fundamental to build an information sharing platform. Technology has already changed our lives. In my opinion, the internet provides a free and efficient place for communication, information sharing and cooperation.

 

Learn more about how international youth are partnering on the road to Paris through the #OurFuture Campaign.