Chinese President Xi Jinping’s absence from the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (CoP27) undermines the climate negotiations, given the fact that the global battle against climate change hinges heavily on the biggest emitter kicking its coal addiction, Financial Times, a British newspaper owned by a Japanese holding company, reported.
Ahead of the summit, the organizers confirmed that Xi, the leader of the world’s most populous country, would not attend. However, China had committed to reducing carbon emissions per unit of GDP — its carbon intensity — by around two-thirds compared with 2005 levels, by 2030. And by 2060, it will become carbon neutral, meaning cutting its carbon dioxide emissions to nearly zero.
To achieve this goal, China may take a turn to cheap energy production, namely coal. But, China director of the research firm Rhodium Group Sophie Lu warned against the “misconception” that Beijing’s responses to short-term inflationary and energy stability problems reflect a U-turn on its climate change commitments,..
“What the international climate community is disappointed with is that China did not immediately go to zero new coal build from 2020 onwards,” she says.
“It is a fair criticism that China could and should be building less new coal earlier.
