China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative could help bring more consistency to the way environmental issues are handled across the world, said Gwen Ruta, executive director of global operations of the Environmental Defense Fund, an NGO based in the United States.

Ruta said that in the various countries involved in the BRI, some are sophisticated in the way they deal with environmental issues, some not. But the BRI could bring the level up for everybody, and see that the universal principles and environmental values are consistently applied in those projects in countries involved in the BRI.

A green development coalition under the BRI was launched on Thursday in Beijing on the sidelines of the ongoing Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

"It is a very great development," she said. "We have been talking about having the green BRI, now having an alliance and the data platforms start to make it real."

Ruta said she was very impressed by President Xi Jinping's keynote speech during the forum, in which he mentioned the importance of the rule of law and using the BRI to spread the rule of law to other countries, which are important for many aspects as well as for the environment.

Another part that impressed her was the importance of science that was mentioned by Xi, as it is essential for protecting environment and ecology, she said.