1. Ambassador for Climate Change Yoo Yeon-chul, together with Mr. Li Gao, Director-General of the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, held the 4^th Korea-China Joint Committee on Climate Change Cooperation Meeting in Haikou, China, on October 30-31. During the Meeting, the two sides discussed ways to make progress on international climate change negotiations and expand cooperation on climate change as well as better response to air pollution.

2. At the Joint Committee Meeting, the two sides shared views on the current issues of the key agenda items and the way forward of the climate change negotiations. They agreed to pursue cooperation needed to complete the detailed guidelines for the implementation of the Paris Agreement at the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

° (Forecast on the COP25) The two sides shared the understanding that it is important that all the detailed guidelines should be completed at the COP25 for the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

° (Guidelines for Article 6 of the Paris Agreement regarding international carbon markets) The two sides agreed to explore ways to make progress through extensive dialogues with the members who are maintaining different views and positions, and agreed to work together as necessary.

° (Transparency) Given that their two countries are leading transparency negotiations, including by serving as co-facilitators, the two sides agreed to continue cooperation at negotiations in order to build a transparent framework under which the Non-Annex I Parties to the UNFCCC can smoothly conduct their reporting obligations pursuant to the Paris Agreement.

3. The two sides introduced their domestic policies for responding to climate change respectively; agreed to explore ways to work together on domestic carbon markets (emissions trading schemes) and adaptation measures; shared the progress in preparing their Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS) to be submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat in 2020; and agreed on the importance of reaching national consensus that is necessary for the transition to low-carbon economy.

4. The ROK side requested China to take the 2019 International Forum on Air Pollution and Climate Change to be held in Seoul on November 4-5 as an opportunity to share experiences in responding to air pollution, such as fine dust, and climate change and thereby to step up cooperation with the ROK in this field.

° With regard to the adoption of a UN resolution for the designation of “Blue Sky Day” as proposed by the ROK President at the Climate Action Summit 2019 in New York on September 23, the ROK side asked for active support of the Chinese government. The ROK delegation also voiced expectations that the two countries will cooperate on policies regarding particulate matter and air pollution based on scientific analyses through the North-East Asia Clean Air Partnership (NEACAP) as well as extensive bilateral cooperation.

5. This year’s Joint Committee on Climate Change Cooperation Meeting has provided a good opportunity to reinforce the foundation for not only mutual cooperation toward the completion of the detailed Paris Agreement rulebook ahead of its implementation from 2020 but also the bilateral and multilateral cooperation for climate change response through the various international cooperation frameworks.

° The heads of the ROK and Chinese delegations to the Meeting expressed deep concern over the Chilean government’s decision to cancel the COP25 amid recent protests in the country. Both the two heads of the delegates shared the understanding that it is critical to set up an alternative meeting at the earliest possible moment, so the negotiations on international carbon markets can continuously proceed and accordingly, the development of the implementation guidelines for the Paris Agreement is completed at the COP25 as soon as possible.