Amidst growing global criticism, China has decided against cutting its reliance on fossil fuels. Even as preparations are underway for the forthcoming COP28 climate talks in Dubai due in late November, China has opposed the idea of phase out of fossil fuel by describing it as “unrealistic”.
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s climate office head Xia Yingxian recently said that countries must refrain from “empty slogans” and instead adopt a pragmatic attitude to climate change that reflects concerns such as energy security, employment and growth.He assured that his country would be open to setting a global renewable energy target during the talks.His remarks came in response to the United Nations “global stocktake” report published in September which stated that the world had fallen behind on climate targets and action was required “on all fronts” to keep temperature rises within 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Yingxiansaid that richer nations should fulfil their pledge to provide 100 billion US dollars in annual climate finance for poorer countries, complete setting up a financial mechanism for “loss and damage” and double adaptation funds, adding that the COP28 meeting should respect the “different starting points and national conditions of each country”. The November meeting is slated to focus on the gaps in the implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement including the use of fossil fuels.
Chinawhich is fearful of facing criticism within the country on cutting reliance on fussil fuels, has shown reluctance to any phase out. China is world’s biggest coal consumer as well as the top emitter of climate-warming greenhouse gas.
Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, who promoted an uplifting vision for growth increasingly freed from greenhouse gas pollution, made China’s path to decarbonization clear in October 2022 itself. Speaking at the Communist Party Congress, Xi said that China won’t stop burning fossil fuels until it’s confident that clean energy can reliably replace them. The speech clearly showed the significant role of coal in China’s energy supply given the resources endowment.
Internally, companies and regions dependent on the fossil fuel are creating hurdles to Beijing’s development plan because of coal. The climate saving ambitious plan which is meant to steer the country to carbon neutrality before 2060, was endorsed by China’s Communist Party controlled legislature in 2021.
Xi Jingping had stated that China’s emissions of carbon dioxide would peak before 2030 and the country would reach net carbon neutrality before 2060, meaning it would emit no more of the greenhouse gas than it takes from the atmosphere by methods like engineering or planting forests.
Since then, the sharp debate has been going over how aggressively it should cut the use of coal, which has fueled its industrial takeoff yet made it the world’s top-polluting nation in recent decades.The opinion is divided over coal. Some said that coal is responsible for driving the economy and other said that it is the biggest target for climate action.
While prominent Chinese climate scientists and policy advisers favoured stricter emissions limits, including virtually no new coal power projects, and they foresee a boom in solar and wind generation and powerful provinces, state companies and industry groups insisted that there was still a need to use large amounts of coal for electricity and industry for years to come. According to them, coal provides a robust base of power to complement solar, wind and hydropower sources, which are more prone to fluctuating
In March 2021, China witnessed a thick smog hung over Beijing, reflecting an uptick in industrial pollution. According to New York Times, China’s annual carbon dioxide emissions are 28 percent of the global total, roughly the same as the next three biggest emitters combined: the United States, the European Union and India. The accumulated emissions of the United States and other rich economies across the entire industrial era, though, remain much bigger than China’s. The coal industry lobby has repeatedly argued that China needs to keep burning coal, albeit in cleaner, more efficient plants.The China National Coal Association in one of its report in 2021 proposed modest increases in its use for the next five years, reaching 4.2 billion metric tons by 2025, and also said China should create three to five “globally competitive world-class coal enterprises.”Shanxi Province, one of China’s biggest coal producing areas, had announced plans for 40 “green,” efficient coal mines, the US daily reported.
Chinese officials in such areas also worry about losses of jobs and investment and the resulting social strains. They argue that China still needs coal to provide a robust base of power to complement solar, wind and hydropower sources, which are more prone to fluctuating. And many energy companies backing these views are state-owned behemoths that have easy access to political leaders.Ironically, Xi’s plan has many flaws in it. China’s new plan appeared to give the different camps in the carbon debate a foothold. The plan promise d green growth and expansion of hydro, solar and wind power, in addition to nuclear power plant construction. By 2025, the plan said, non-fossil fuel sources will provide one-fifth of China’s energy. The plan failed to include an absolute ceiling on annual carbon dioxide emissions and indicated that coal-fired power stations would keep being built. However, the crucial questions are not just when will China’s emissions peak, but how high will they reach and how long they will take to fall drastically. To transit away from coal will not be that easy at all. China must confront the costs of closing mines and plants, including the needs of millions of potentially displaced miners and other workers. Many coal-dependent regions and their workers seem unprepared for that possible shift.