Yes, you read that right: China, the epitome of dirty energy consumption, is urging Europe— which just recently discovered renewable energy isn’t reliable when the sun doesn’t shine, the wind doesn’t blow, and Russia shuts the gas taps off— to not lose focus on its climate change goals despite growing geopolitical uncertainties.
According to China, Europe, along with other developed nations, need to take “positive action” to ensure emission-reduction initiatives are not sidestepped even amidst the geopolitical turmoil between Russia and the West. “The climate policies of some European countries have shown a ‘backswing’, and it is hoped that this is just a temporary stopgap,” said China climate negotiations lead Xie Zhenhua to Germany’s special climate envoy Jennifer Morgan, as cited by Reuters.
With Russia curtailing gas supplies in retaliation to western sanctions, Europe is forced to increase coal consumption to make up for energy shortcomings left behind by renewable energy and offline nuclear plants. China, on the other hand, ranks number one in the world for coal consumption, consuming about 3,055,000 cubic feet of coal per capita each year. But, the communist country insists that it remains firmly committed to its low-carbon path— “in contrast with the European Union.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last month significantly escalated tensions between the US and China, with the latter country cancelling a series of bilateral discussions on global warning, further stalling the global fight against climate change. Xie insisted that developed countries should focus on meeting their Paris Agreement pledge to give $100 billion per year in climate funds to developing countries.
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