- China’s vital part at climate summit
- Power shortages could jeopardize Christmas sales
- Sinolytics.Radar: China’s emissions trading lags behind
- CCP elevates Xi to Mao’s level
- EU Commission vice-president: stronger support for Taiwan
- Crossing of naval vessels provokes Japan
- Profile: the rise of sanctioned official Wang Junzheng
Today’s issue of China.Table slightly focuses on power and climate. Because at the end of October, the world’s eyes will be on Scotland: The UN member nations will be gathering in Glasgow for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference. A lot is at stake. At the end of February, after evaluating 48 national climate plans, the UN Climate Change Secretariat concluded that substantial improvements were required to meet the projected 1.5-degree goal. COP26, as the UN conference is also known, must therefore produce efficient results.
China’s president will in all likelihood not attend COP26 and will send climate envoy Xie Zhenhua in his stead. The UN conference happens at a critical juncture for the People’s Republic: The global power crisis is hitting China particularly hard. The government is ramping up coal-fired power generation following power outages across the country. At the same time, President Xi is announcing a massive solar and wind power program. How long can China continue to rely on both at the same time – and still reach carbon neutrality by 2060? Christiane Kuehl has taken on this question.
The power shortage is not only being felt in China. The shortage also has a direct impact on global supply chains. The already battered chip industry has been hit once again. Nico Beckert spoke with various chambers of commerce and industry associations. They say: Companies are still utilizing their stocked supplies. With the upcoming Christmas season, however, the situation is getting worse day by day.
China’s CO2 trading, which started this year, was seen as a means to get a grip on the People’s Republic’s emissions. However, trading has not really taken off yet, as our cooperation partners explain in today’s Sinolytics.Radar.
Amelie Richter
Feature
Between coal and climate protection: China ahead of COP26
Will Xi Jinping travel to Glasgow or not? Over the weekend, British newspapers reported that the Chinese president will not attend the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in person. But according to Xi’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua, the decision was still open on Tuesday: “We are still waiting for information from the foreign ministry,” South China Morning Post quoted him as saying. At the very least, however, Xie, an experienced climate diplomat, will travel there in person. This will allow for an informal discussion, which is invaluable at such conferences. Xie stressed that China is working to make the climate conference a success. However, China’s zero-covid strategy stands in the way of a large delegation.
But even if President Xi won’t fly to Glasgow, China’s role at the summit on October 31 will be of great significance: Only if the People’s Republic, the currently largest emitter of carbon dioxide, is prepared to make further concessions, will effective climate protection be possible.
At the climate summit in Glasgow, all signatory states to the 2015 Paris climate agreement are expected to ambitiously tighten their climate targets. The agreement calls for global warming to be limited to below 2.0 degrees, and if possible, even down to just 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times. On several occasions, US climate envoy John Kerry held negotiations with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua over additional pledges by China. In just under two weeks, we will see what this diplomacy is worth.
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