cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/46173745
For evidence of China’s prominence at the United Nations climate summit in Brazil, look no further than the convention hall, where China boasts one of the largest pavilions, prominently located in the center next to the host country.
Before a fire tore through part of the Pavilion Hall on Thursday, throngs converged daily at China’s exhibition area to pick up panda-themed tote bags, listen to energy experts and admire displays of China’s global investments in clean energy.
[...]
But behind closed doors in the negotiating rooms at the U.N. summit, where nations are wrestling with how to move away from fossil fuels, China has been mostly quiet.
[...]
Analysts said China was showing little interest in taking up the mantle of global climate leader.
“It is frustrating,” said Natalie Unterstell, the president of Talanoa, a Brazilian climate research organization. “We would like to see a high-ambition China.”
One reason appears to be self-interest.
[...]
In the real world, the Chinese have provided billions of dollars in loans and grants to poorer countries to help them deal with climate change and to transition to renewable energy. But its delegation at Belém objects to any language that might result in the United Nations requiring, or even asking, it to provide such aid.
When it comes to the most contentious issue in Belém, whether nations will enact a so-called road map for transitioning away from fossil fuels, China has been quiet, diplomats said.
Even though China is currently the planet’s biggest polluter, it “has a strongly-held view that climate change is a problem caused by developed countries, and that they should lead the way,” said Kaveh Guilanpour, a vice president at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, a nonprofit group that is following the negotiations in Belém.
[...]
China’s own plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions has been criticized as insufficient. The European Union climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, called it “disappointing,” and former Biden administration officials in Belém said it did not do nearly enough to limit dangerous warming.
[...]
China’s top issue in Belém has less to do with leading other nations and more with its own economic interests.
Specifically, China wants to eliminate European and other tariffs it sees as a barrier to selling its solar panels, electric vehicles and other exports to global markets. And, it has argued here that if countries are serious about more quickly bringing down emissions, they should make it easier for China to sell its green products.
“From a soft power perspective I don’t believe China has been ready to play a larger role or even to replace the vacuum left by the U.S.,” said Zou Ji, president of Energy Foundation China, an organization that works with the Chinese government on climate change issues, and a former member of China’s climate negotiating team.
Instead, he said, it is leading by selling solar panels, EVs and batteries cheaper ... than the rest of the world.
[...]