China Pavilion in the Blue Zone of Dubai Expo City is ready to welcome visitors during COP28 on November 29, 2023. Photo: Shan Jie/GT

The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) is set to officially kick off on Thursday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A day before the world's attention is on this grand event, China was already prepared to tell the world about the efforts and stories to build a Beautiful China.

The Chinese delegation will hold a series of side events and activities in the China Pavilion, located in the Blue Zone of Dubai Expo City. On Wednesday afternoon, when the Global Times visited the pavilion, organizers were busy preparing the venue, while senior leaders from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment were also visiting and providing guidance on site.

The China Pavilion is located in Zone B5 BLDG 58, with two conference areas and one exhibition area. In addition to English panels detailing China's achievements in carbon reduction, a drawing of a panda mascot in the center of the venue was particularly eye-catching.

From 9 am on Thursday, the China Pavilion will welcome its opening ceremony as well as the first briefing session, themed "Ecological Civilization and Beautiful China Practices."

During the COP28 period, more than 100 side events will be hosted by related government departments, local governments, research institutes, industrial associations, enterprises, and NGOs, covering topics such as China's policies and actions on climate change, international cooperation, green and low-carbon development, synergies for reducing pollution and carbon, and green finance.

Apart from the China Pavilion, other pavilions, such as those of the UAE, South Korea, were also in the midst of final decoration and tuning work.

Wednesday afternoon at the COP28 venue was the peak time for conference registration, with delegates from various countries already lining up, causing the time for security checks and registration to exceed half an hour.

More than 70,000 delegates are expected to attend COP28, including member states (or Parties) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Business leaders, climate scientists, indigenous peoples, journalists, and various other experts and stakeholders also number among the participants, according to the official website of the UNFCCC.
 
China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called on the upcoming COP28 climate conference to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the progress in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, urging developed countries in particular to honor their pledges of solidarity in tackling climate change, so as to create more favorable conditions for the implementation of the Convention and the Paris Agreement.

In recent years, extreme weather events have become frequent and the adverse effects of climate change have become prominent, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, who added that the report released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) once again reminds the world that efforts to tackle climate change are far from adequate.

As a responsible major developing country, China has already exceeded its 2020 climate action targets ahead of schedule, and will complete the world's highest reduction in carbon intensity, and achieve carbon peak to carbon neutrality in the shortest time in global history.

Wang also pointed out that the efforts of developed countries to mitigate climate change are still inadequate and developed countries should take the lead in significantly reducing emissions and achieving net zero emissions much earlier than 2050.