Beijing: Climate Change has evidently become the bargaining tool between China and the US, with both nations engaging in a verbal spat with each other to score brownie points with each other.
On September 1, 2021, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi plainly told the Special US Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, that China-U.S. cooperation on climate change cannot be divorced from the overall situation of China-U.S. relations, which Yi said, “have taken a sharp turn for the worse and are facing serious difficulties”.
Kerry, who had travelled to Tokyo, Japan and Tianjin, People’s Republic of China from August 31 to September 3, 2021, to engage with international counterparts on efforts to address the climate crisis, had later retorted, saying that the climate issue was not a geopolitical weapon and that China could do more on climate change response.
Today China reminded the USA that based on the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities identified in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and national determined contributions underscored in the Paris Agreement on climate change, “parties to the agreements are entitled to the sovereignty in emission targets and actions”. Taking a dig at Kerry, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying, “addressing climate change is not what others ask us to. We are doing so on our own initiative”.
China claimed that while it usually took developed countries one to two hundred years from industrialization to carbon peaking, China needed “only 50-odd years” to achieve this. “From carbon peaking to carbon neutrality, the EU will spend 71 years, the US 43 years and Japan 37 years. But the goal China set for itself is 30 years. As the largest developing country, China will spend the shortest time completing the largest cut in emission intensity in the world. This is a full testament to responsibility China undertakes as a responsible major country,” Wenbin said. He pointed out that having over-fulfilled the climate action goals of 2020 ahead of schedule, China had announced the objective and vision of carbon peaking, carbon neutrality and new goals of nationally determined contributions last year, and started trading of the national carbon market. “China will live up to its words. China’s climate actions have received extensive appreciation of the international community,” he said.
China today further told the US that it should shoulder legal responsibilities and conduct meaningful cooperation in climate change with developing countries. “We hope the US side can view China and China-US relations in an objective and rational way, remove stumbling blocks on the path of China-US climate change cooperation and, in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits, aim for more outcomes in bilateral coordination and cooperation in climate change and other areas,” Wenbin said. He said Beijing hoped the the US side can view China and China-US relations in “an objective and rational way, and in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits, aim for more outcomes in bilateral coordination and cooperation in climate change and other areas. This benefits China and the US, and also the entire humanity”.
– global bihari bureau
