As the northern hemisphere burns through record heat waves and the world records record high temperatures, China and the US are stepping up climate talks, with Biden Admin Climate Tzar John Kerry arriving in Beijing.
China and the US together contribute a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, around 40% of the global total combined.
Without them both decarbonising rapidly, the world faces the threat of dangerous global warming with dire consequences for humanity.
Currently, China generates most electricity from burning coal, about 70% by some estimates. The country continues to add more coal fire power plants every year to power its fast-growing economy.
Overall, China gets about 90% of its energy from fossil fuels, according to The Washington Post.
In January 2023, Kerry told media he was worried China wasn’t concerned with doing anything meaningful to reduce carbon emissions.
“I think there’s a serious question as to whether they are prepared to do some things that they need to reduce emissions rather than just full steam ahead in their economy,” Kerry, the Biden administration’s special climate envoy, told the Washington Post at the time.
“There’s no room anymore for this argument that historic emissions have to balance out.”
Kerry is likely to follow up on calls from US Commerce Secretary Janet Yellen to do more on Climate Change financing around the world.
The world will need to spend some $1 trillion per year over the next few years alone on climate change technology and infrastructure to meet 2030 climate change goals, set in the Paris Agreement of 2016.
After years of dragging its feet on climate change, the US passed the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022, ensuring massive government subsidies and financing for green initiatives – seen as the most comprehensive legislation for climate change yet.
The IRA is projected to decrease US carbon footprint by 40% below its 2005 levels by 2030.
However, critics say the legislation won’t go far enough and the US will struggle to cut its own emissions by 50% by 2030.
However, there have been recent positive announcements from China on their decarbonisation efforts.
Earlier this year Beijing announced a massive investment in nuclear power, which would see the nation increase output by some 652%, to 400 gigawatts by 2060. About 18% of China’s electricity will come from nuclear power.
Dozens of nuclear power plants are either under construction or will be rolled out over the next 15 years or so.
Earlier this week, in a statement not widely reported by Western media, President Xi said China would fast-track the “construction and investment in new power systems” that are “clean and low-carbon.”
