Entrepreneurs active

Regular participants to the UN gathering said the number of entrepreneurs attending it rose this year.

Addressing an event on the sidelines of COP28 on Dec 1, Fu Chengyu, former chairman of Sinopec, said he believed the UN gathering this year had the largest participation to date from Chinese entrepreneurs.

"I have met at least 200, and even 300,(Chinese) entrepreneurs here," he said.

Fu said this is a sign that the nation's entrepreneurs have started to incorporate the philosophy of green, low-carbon development into their plans for the future.

Yang Peidan, executive director of C Team, also called China Champions for Climate Action, also noticed a record-high number of Chinese entrepreneurs at COP28.

C Team is an NGO committed to supporting Chinese entrepreneurs in being action leaders who address climate change.

Yang first took part in the UN climate change conference by attending COP24 in Katowice, Poland, in 2018. That year, only eight or nine Chinese companies took part in Enterprise Day at the China pavilion, she said.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Yang said more than 20 Chinese companies took part in events at the Chinese enterprise pavilion at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021.

Yang added that COP28 attracted a record-high number of Chinese companies, with many of their representatives attending numerous sessions of the gathering.

She said representatives from at least 90 Chinese companies spoke at events in the China pavilion this year.

"COP28 has not only seen a record number of (Chinese) companies, but also diversified participation modes," she said.

For example, by joining hands with the All-China Environment Federation, LONGi Green Energy Technology Co, a leading enterprise in China's solar power industry, set up a Solar+ Pavilion, where numerous events were held, Yang said.

Wang Zekai, managing director of the Global Committee on Social Business for Sustainable Development Goals, first attended the annual UN climate change conference in 2009, and has missed only two of the gatherings since then.

Wang, also founder of the NGO Youthink Center, said that at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009, it was rare to encounter another Chinese.

"You had a very cordial feeling when you met another Chinese. We warmly greeted each other," he said.

At COP28 in Dubai, Chinese could be seen everywhere, but they seldom greeted each other unless they were introduced by friends, he added.

Previously, few entrepreneurs took part in UN climate change conferences.

But as China's climate change targets become an increasingly hot topic, more entrepreneurs have decided to join the meetings, he said, adding that many of them are not involved in areas related to climate change.

China aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and realize carbon neutrality before 2060.

Wang said he believes that the number of Chinese delegates to COP28 was up several times on the figure for last year.

He said he found that politicians from some nations are highly interested in China's low-carbon transition.

When he spoke with Terrance Drew, prime minister of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Wang told him of his experiences of building a smart zero-carbon industrial park in downtown Beijing.

He said Drew was very excited to hear about the park, and expressed a strong interest in making Saint Kitts and Nevis zero-carbon.

One entrepreneur active at the UN climate change conference is Chen Suping, founder of the Handle Climate Change Film Festival, who took part in COP for the first time at the 2015 edition in Paris.

At a news conference on Saturday at COP28, Chen, chairman of Shenzhen Handle Cultural Investment Co, which is based in Shenzhen, Guandong province, and is one of the festival sponsors, said the ninth edition of the festival will be held in October in Shenzhen.

"We have collected 11,403 films from 130 countries and regions around the world at the past eight film festivals," he said, adding the public has free access to all these award-winning movies at the event.

Despite the festival being expensive to stage, Chen is determined to continue with it.

"The event aims to popularize knowledge about climate change, raise people's climate awareness, and make contributions to protecting the planet we call home," the 58-year-old said.

One of the event's priorities is to encourage more young people to take climate actions, he said.

This is why 8-year-old Lai Yourui's mother, Zhao Shanshan, brought him to COP28.

"I hope my boy can learn more about climate change … and then throw himself into more (climate) actions," Zhao said.