Gao Dengyi, an atmospheric physicist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Photo: Zhao Yusha/GT

 
China has consistently demonstrated its commitment to implementing the Paris Agreement and will strengthen cooperation with the international community on emission reduction and environmental protection, said a Chinese scientist, whilst criticizing certain country's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement destroys rules.

In an interview with the Global Times on Friday, China's 8th annual National Science and Technology Workers Day, Gao Dengyi, an atmospheric physicist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that China's achievement on protecting environment have become obvious for the world to see, and the country has made a significant contributions in supporting the Paris Agreement and reduce emission. 
 
Gao is the first Chinese scientist to complete scientific expeditions to the Earth's three poles (the Arctic, the Antarctic and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau). He has long been engaged in meteorological scientific expeditions and research in alpine, polar and marine regions, having visited Mount Qomolangma, the Antarctic and the Arctic, among other locations, to conduct his research. 

In the scientific expeditions of the three poles, Chinese scientists have consistently prioritized environmental protection in these regions, said Gao. He noted that due to global warming, the sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic has been gradually decreasing. 

We have conducted extensive scientific research on this phenomenon, as it affects the distribution of summer rainstorms in China and the severity of droughts and floods in the following year. Therefore, protecting the environments of the Antarctic and Arctic is essentially safeguarding China's environment and the global environment at large, Gao noted. 

Researching the environments of the three poles is key to safeguarding these regions, which in turn contributes to the protection of the global environment.

In 2019, Tandong Yao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told a session of the United Nations Science, Policy, and Business Forum on the Environment in Nairobi that global warming has led to the melting of glaciers, resulting in extreme weather events that have affected the livelihoods of millions of people in the region, Xinhua reported.

Yao said the environmental changes observed in the Third Pole region and the surrounding areas are linked to global climate systems.

Chinese scientists are already collaborating with their peers in the affected central Asian region as well as those from UN agencies, the US, Germany, France and Sweden.

The degradation of the Pan-Third Pole region is a global concern, as it spans over 20 million square kilometers and is home to 3 billion people, Yao said.

Gao also said that thanks to long-term cooperation with scientists, China is gradually getting a clearer picture of global warming in areas surrounding three poles. 

Gao noted that compared with China, certain countries are undermining established norms by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, whichis for the common interests of people around the world. Those countries should assume such responsibilities instead of participating selectively, Gao noted. 

In January this year, the UN confirmed that it had received official notification from Washington of its withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement.