The vision of the 'two mountains' concept conveys a crucial message regarding the need to speed up green development and address climate change, stated Tanya Steele, CEO of the UK office of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

"China's green development is incredibly important," Steele said in a virtual interview. "Nature underpins our whole economy and our society as well."

"The role that China has played in recent years, particularly in accelerating its development from a very heavy industrial environment to one that is much more about sustainable development, is important for China at home but also sends a very important signal around the world as well," said Steele.

Asked about China's current and future role in the fight against climate change, Steele stated that the world is "looking at China right now when we think about climate change," not only due to the scale of China's economy but also because of the progress the country is making.

In 2020, China announced its dual carbon goals of reaching peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

"I think that this signal of the dual carbon targets was very well received. But again, importantly, the progress that China is making is critical," Steele said.

She added that progress has been made in several areas, including renewable energy such as solar and wind power, lithium batteries, and their adoption throughout Chinese society.

China's efforts to develop renewable energy and enhance its supply chain sustainability in the future will not only benefit China domestically but also contribute positively to economies worldwide, Steele stated.

Steele, who is scheduled to travel to China for the National Ecology Day, highlighted that the WWF is keen to enhance cooperation with China.

China's National Ecology Day is celebrated on August 15 to raise public awareness and promote actions for the protection of the ecological environment.

"We're very proud of our cooperation with our Chinese partners over the past decades. We would like to both deepen and widen it as well," she said.

"We could also build on biodiversity; we have a lot of experience both inside China and around the world in ecosystem restoration and protection. We're very proud of our association with the protection of the giant panda."

Another area of collaboration with China is climate change and the loss of nature, she added.

"We'd like to increasingly work with China, particularly across the Global South, to enable green trade and sustainable use of our incredibly important natural assets, both for us today and for future generations to come," she said.