Climate crisis: US blames China for persistent tendency to use coal for energy

The wave of coal-fired power plant construction in China threatens to undermine global efforts to fight against climate change, US climate envoy John Kerry said Thursday during a visit to the Asian giant.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with senior officials in Tianjin, northern China, Kerry said that “the addition of new coal-fired power plants poses a major challenge to global efforts to deal with the climate crisis”.

He added that he had asked officials of the most polluting country in the world to stop the construction of such plants in order “not to ruin the ability of the world to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050”.

According to him, the discussions were “very constructive”, but he said he was “very direct” on the issue.

China has set itself the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, but the country is still very dependent on coal, which constitutes 60% of its energy power.

And despite promises to limit its coal consumption by 2030, Last year, China commissioned coal-fired power plants designed to produce 38.4 gigawatts, more than three times what the rest of the planet built during that time.

However, China has warned that environmental cooperation could be affected by the deterioration of bilateral ties.

“The climate is not ideological”

Kerry called on China not to let these tensions slow down climate talks. “The climate is not ideological,” he said. “It’s a global challenge.”

“It is essential (…) whatever our differences, that we face the climate crisis”, he added.

China said on Thursday that Climate cooperation with the United States depends on the good overall relationship between the two powers.

“Climate cooperation is inseparable from the general relationship between the two countriesChinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Wednesday during a video chat with John Kerry.

“The ball is in the United States’ field, and the United States must stop seeing China as a threat and a rival“Esteemed Wang Yi.

Tensions between China and the United States have soared in recent months, with criticism of Beijing’s human rights policy and its initial handling of the coronavirus.

Climate change is one of the few issues on which the two sides have been able to maintain harmony.

“The world cannot solve the problem of global warming without the full commitment of China, which produces 27% of global greenhouse gas emissions.“said Kerry, calling on the Chinese government to take” a responsibility commensurate with its status. “

China is the world’s largest emitter of CO2 (27% of emissions) ahead of the United States, which is historically the country that has produced the most carbon emissions so far.

The US envoy’s Asian tour aims to “strengthen US bilateral and multilateral efforts to raise climate ambitions” ahead of COP26, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, in November, according to the US State Department.

Experts from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in early August a disturbing report, which specifies that the average temperature of the planet could be 1.5 ºC higher than that of the pre-industrial era “at the beginning of the 2030s”, that is, “ten years earlier” than his previous estimate had predicted.

With information from AFP

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