China's renewed perception of global environmental governance

Abstract

China's idea of a community of a shared future for humanity (CSFH) has become the guiding principle and norm to be further embedded and integrated into the country's approach to environmental governance. Under the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, China strongly emphasizes the implementation of its national strategy to mitigate the global climate crisis, and construct international environmental institutions by advocating fair cooperation resulting in mutual gain. China's role as a responsible major country is expected to be more proactive in international process. In particular, the concept of CSFH exerts positive, far-reaching impacts on the greening of the Belt and Road Initiative and the construction of solid South–South relations. Based on the renewed perception, China shall undertake its responsibilities in the reform of the global environmental governance system by leading multilateralism to strengthen the capacity of relevant international institutions such as the UN. Driven by China's political will, this concept reflects China's more confident attitude toward global environmental governance. Most profoundly, mainstreaming the vision of CSFH will elevate China's role to a new level in the coming years in terms of norm creation in international environmental institutions.