At this year’s Earth Day on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to join a virtual meeting of global leaders hosted by his US counterpart Joe Biden to discuss climate change. Ahead of the summit, Beijing and Washington issued a joint statement pledging to work together to uphold the Paris Agreement on climate change.
They are the latest steps in China’s long journey from climate denialism to decarbonisation and follow September’s milestone when Xi surprised a United Nations assembly by announcing an ambitious goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
China is responsible for around 28 per cent of CO2 emissions – more than the US and EU combined – and has had the world’s largest carbon footprint since 2004. For decades, Beijing rejected the notion of climate change and argued for deferred emission reduction obligations as a developing country.
There are profound political and economic motives for China’s recent adaptation to the challenging reality of climate change, including unprecedented public anger over the country’s worsening pollution levels – China is also the world’s worst polluter – which was the catalyst for its embrace of the clean energy sectors for sustainable economic growth.
China is also eager to boost its image as a responsible global power and become a rule setter in green technologies by committing more to the climate issue. The country is also keen to reset its relationship with the US, which has plunged to the lowest point in half a century.
Read More at https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3130132/tracing-chinas-climate-change-journey-denial-decarbonisation
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