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In response to the world wanting China to do more regarding climate change, Zhang noted that this is a natural response, as China is the largest developing country and its CO2 emissions are increasing as the economy develops. She believes China is making strong efforts and is fully committed.
Yang Fuqiang of WWF International agrees. "People need to look at the targets, such as China and the United States, which have different backgrounds…Developing countries need about 165 billion Euros in financial help for emissions reduction every year. However, developed countries only commit 10 billion Euros a year, which hardly meets the requirements."
Yang said China is one of the countries most severely affected by climate change, yet it can also be one of the biggest beneficiaries if we can slow down the pace of climate change. Yang told the students that the challenges of coping with climate change rests on their shoulders.
President of GCCYC and current Renmin University student Alex Wang said the conference is to help prepare the students to tackle those challenges. "We hope to motivate every young person, not only from China but also from other countries, to be youth leaders to fight climate change."
The conference included a visit from former UN Under-Secretary and co-founder of the Kyoto Protocol, Maurice F. Strong. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also sent a letter encouraging the students, saying, "Extraordinary times such as this open extraordinary opportunities for change. Young people make up the world's population and have much to contribute…I welcome in particular the holding of a Model UN conference dedicated to climate change."
The event was co-organized by Renmin University and the Embassy of Denmark.