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As parts of the northern hemisphere reach heat levels approaching the limits of human survival, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said in a statement released on Wednesday that Beijing alone will decide how — and how quickly — climate change will be addressed.
Xi did not address his announcement to US special envoy on climate John F. Kerry, who was in Beijing for three days for climate talks between the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters, but instead to senior Communist Party officials as part of his own environmental agenda – excl. US -Input.
China will “unwaveringly” deliver on its commitments, but the pace of those efforts “should and must be set” without outside interference, Xi said late Tuesday. It was a long way from the 2015 Paris climate accord, when a Sino-US agreement paved the way for the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
The urgency to live up to these ambitions has been highlighted by historic heatwaves in China, southern Europe, the Middle East and North America in recent weeks. Rising average temperatures, compounded by the El Niño climate pattern, have 2023 well on track to become the hottest year on record.
The heat index reached 152 degrees in the Middle East – almost the limit for human survival
Meanwhile, European lawmakers, hoping to use the cherished tradition of the mid-July break to take a break from the challenges of the war in Ukraine, were faced with the hellish temperatures of another heatwave that served as a searing reminder of the climate crisis and power no summer vacation.
However, Brussels’ ambitious climate plans are met with fierce opposition from conservatives in the European Union, a sign that the Union remains divided on exactly how to proceed.
The actions of Europe and China – particularly how quickly it can switch from coal to renewable energy – will be crucial to the world’s already slim chances of meeting the Paris Agreement target.
Beijing has set a goal of reversing rising carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, but has also pledged to support the global clean energy transition by stopping building coal-fired power plants abroad.
In pictures: How the world is dealing with extreme heat
According to Li Shuo, a senior policy adviser with Greenpeace East Asia, Xi’s message, delivered at the same time Kerry was in town, was no coincidence. Xi showed that “China will determine its own path to achieving carbon targets and will not be commanded by others,” he said.
Climate talks between the two countries, once a rare bright spot in a strained relationship, are increasingly being eroded by tensions over trade, technology and human rights. The talks are now a long way from accelerating emissions reductions, which the United Nations has deemed necessary to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
Kerry spent a 12-hour day with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua on Monday. Meeting Vice Premier Han Zheng on Wednesday, Kerry urged that climate should be a “stand-alone” issue, kept separate from the broader bilateral acrimony.
However, many Chinese experts described the visit as part of a tentative diplomatic reset following trips by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, rather than a breakthrough in climate talks.
John Kerry praises China’s “incredible work” on renewable energy and warns against coal
China is outraged by a change in the Biden administration’s climate approach, which sees talks complemented by tougher measures such as tariffs on high-emission steel and aluminum imports to push China to move faster.
The United States “ignores China’s contributions and achievements in reducing emissions and blindly pressures China to make unrealistic commitments,” said Chen Ying, a researcher at the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in an interview with local media.
But it is not just US pressure that is forcing China to act.
Flash floods, sudden cold snaps and other deadly extreme weather events have raised public awareness of the dangers of a warming atmosphere in China in recent years. The government responded by promising to improve warning systems and disaster response mechanisms to protect livelihoods, economies and even valuable historical artifacts in future crises.
But the people of China are feeling the extremes this summer. Temperatures in the northern parts of the country have reached scorching highs in recent weeks, despite torrential rain and typhoons battering the south-eastern coasts.
A record high of 52.2 degrees Celsius (126 Fahrenheit) was measured Sunday in a small community in the Turpan Depression, a stretch of desert in the northwest that drops as much as 150 meters below sea level.
At the other end of the country, the southeastern province of Guangxi issued a red alert Tuesday for flooding and landslides as Typhoon Talim encroached inland.
Beijing’s response to date has focused on containing the fallout from the events themselves, rather than an increased ambition to prevent global warming. Environmental activists therefore fear that Beijing is putting energy security first and thus running counter to climate goals.
After last summer’s – also record-breaking – heatwave dried up reservoirs and caused power outages at idle hydroelectric power stations, the government is turning to coal to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen this year. Local authorities approved more coal-fired power plants in 2022 than any year since 2015.
Ensuring electricity supply during peak summer demand has implications for every family’s well-being, another vice premier, Ding Xuexiang, told one of China’s biggest energy suppliers over the weekend.
To keep air conditioning on, suppliers like CHN Energy, one of the world’s largest producers of coal-fired power, have set daily supply records, state-run newspaper Global Times reported on Monday.
In Europe, the recent heatwave has already seen temperatures in excess of 104 degrees (40ºC) in parts of Spain, France, Italy and Greece. In Sicily, the temperature was up to 115 degrees (46.3 °C).
According to a recent study by Nature Medicine, more than 61,000 people died in heat waves across Europe last year. A study published in May assumes that the probability of early, rare heat waves in Europe will increase with global warming.
While MEPs in Brussels are arguing about the EU’s ambitious climate plans, NATO leaders met in Vilnius, Lithuania, for a headline-grabbing summit that almost overshadowed the climate talks.
There are signs that some Europeans want their politicians to do more and do it faster. “The suicidal temptation to deny in the face of the climate emergency collides with unacceptable data, like last summer’s data and what’s coming to light this year,” said an editorial published in Spain’s El Pais on Wednesday.
“The need for more efficient and comprehensive preventive measures,” says the editorial, “should not be controversial.”
The question now is whether another deadly summer will spur enough Europeans to press for climate action in the autumn – and whether governments will respond.
Vic Chiang in Taipei, Taiwan and Beatriz Ríos in Brussels contributed to this report.
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