Can the world’s largest polluter become its greatest climate hero? As the United States turns inwards with the election of Trump and looks to be retreating from its role as a global environment leader, China looks to be making strides in renewable energy and international diplomacy. But are they willing and able to replace the hole the U.S. will leave?
Following Trump’s re-election, it’s looking as though the U.S. will no longer be willing to commit to saving the planet’s future. Trump, a climate sceptic, rolled back numerous regulations in his first term, none more concerning than withdrawing the USA from the Paris Agreement, a move which he may well repeat. This will leave America’s position as a leader in the struggle against climate change in doubt. Across the Pacific however, China appears to be gearing up to take the US’s place, and if the UN’s climate chief, Simon Stiell, is to be believed, the world needs China to step up and help lead the fight.
In recent years, China has looked to move away from being the world’s largest coal economy, and in the 2010s reduced their percentage of energy generated by coal from 69.2% to 56.8%. Admittedly, this is still high, but investment in renewable energy has been rapid. In 2020, 39% of global energy generated by wind farms and 36% of all solar energy was generated in China.
China is one of the nations at the highest risk of the effects of global warming and has already provided nearly $25 billion for climate efforts since 2016. Additionally, China’s growth as an economic superpower has resulted in a level of global influence that only the US can match. The Belt and Road initiative and leadership positions in BRICS and APEC have placed China in a position to dominate the non-Western world.
However, China remains the world’s biggest polluter, and is willing to push back on leading the global effort, stating that they have already committed enough resources. Zhao Yingmin, head of China’s COP29 delegation, emphasised that “the entire international community should work to deal with the crisis we are facing”, and that responsibility for the new finance goal “lies with developed countries, not developing countries.” However, if the U.S. is no longer willing to project climate leadership, there seems to be only one other nation that is capable of replacing them.
Photo by Davi Mendes on Unsplash