中国气候变化信息网 China Climate Change Info-Net

(2017-03-30)In the week before Donald Trump began to roll back Obama-era climate regulations, China’s government made its clearest statement yet that it sees climate action as central to its best interests.

Speaking at a New York event on 23 March, China’s permanent representative at the UN Liu Jieyi said China remained committed to openness and collaboration on climate change, “whatever the vicissitudes of the international situation”.

Under Barack Obama, the US state department expended huge effort and political capital cajoling the Chinese into a bilateral deal that laid the foundations for the Paris accord on climate change.

One of the pillars of that deal was the Clean Power Plan – which mandated emissions reductions in the US energy sector. On Tuesday, Trump signed an order that began rolling back that policy declaring he was “putting an end to the war on coal”.

But Liu’s comments make clear that China now sees climate action as a matter of national interest, independent of US policy. That applies not only at home, but across a range of diplomatic forums.

Senior global policy advisor at Greenpeace East Asia Li Shuo said the speech “highlights the shifting political stance of China on climate change”.

“It is worth noting that the permanent mission has a direct line with the leadership, so the piece reflects the high level thinking from Beijing,” he added.

Liu’s speech built on comments made by president Xi Jinping in January, in which the leader affirmed Chinese commitment to global cooperation on a range of issues, including climate change.

Liu ran through his country’s progress on emissions reductions and economic transformation and said that achieving China’s Paris Agreement goal to peak carbon emissions growth between 2025 and 2030 would create 69 million jobs.

In contrast, the Republican party in the US has framed Obama’s climate action plan as a “job killer”.

As President Trump seeks to cut off climate aid to developing countries, Liu promised “South-South cooperation” including finance and capacity building.