On October 31, the two-day G20 summit closed in Rome, Italy. After the summit, the G20 leaders issued a joint statement stating that they will abide by the goals of the Paris Agreement, saying that countries have reached a consensus that “significantly reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions, but also take into account the circumstances of each country.”
According to the final communiqué issued by the summit, it is necessary to implement the goal of not exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius in the global average temperature and take meaningful and effective measures. The G20 member states promised to take action on carbon emissions to achieve net zero carbon emissions, but did not set specific targets.
US President Biden held a press conference after the G20 summit, criticizing China and Russia for lack of commitment.
Biden said that Russia and the CCP have basically made no commitment to climate change, which is disappointing, “I am disappointed myself.”
Biden said, “We did a few things to end the subsidy for coal. We made a unanimous commitment at the summit and brought this to the COP26 climate summit…. But we also have to continue to pay attention to China (CCP). , Russia, Saudi Arabia, etc., they are still sitting on the sidelines.”
The President of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping, spoke at the G20 summit in video mode, mentioning that climate change and energy issues are related to the common interests of the international community and demanded practical actions.
The climate summit will be held in Glasgow on Monday (November 1) and Tuesday (November 2), and Xi Jinping will not go there.
The failure of the climate summit will “all lose”?
The United Nations Climate Change Summit (COP26) opened in Glasgow, Scotland on November 1.
According to Agence France-Presse, British Prime Minister Johnson stated at a press conference at the G20 summit in Rome on Sunday (October 31) that “if Glasgow (climate summit) fails, then “all will be lost”. At that time, the Paris Agreement will also Will be in vain.
Alok Sharma, chairman of the current UN Climate Change Conference, said that “our planet is getting worse and worse”, and “floods, tornadoes, wildfires, record-breaking high temperatures” and other phenomena have been seen in all parts of the world. , Feel the impact of climate change firsthand.
China is a member of the G20, and the G20 members account for 80% of the global total carbon emissions. As the largest country in terms of carbon emissions, China is particularly eye-catching.
According to the data provided by Oxford University’s “Our World in Data” website, since 2008, China’s annual carbon dioxide emissions have consistently surpassed that of the United States. In 2019, China emitted 10.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide, almost twice that of the United States (5.3 billion tons) and accounted for nearly 28% of total global emissions.
The CCP sits on the ground and raises prices
Recently, the CCP has taken advantage of countries’ concerns about climate change to sit on the ground and raise prices.
On April 22 this year, the United States took the lead in hosting the World Climate Summit. US President Biden invited heads of government from more than forty countries around the world to participate. Xi Jinping participated in this video summit and delivered a speech.
Outsiders believe that as the world‘s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, Xi Jinping’s participation is an important factor in the success of this summit.
Regarding the climate summit convened by the United States, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China secretly criticized the United States for using “climate change as a bargaining chip in geopolitics” at a “media briefing” late on the night of April 22, attacking targets of other countries and an excuse for trade barriers. “The CCP has never engaged in geopolitics and has no interest in playing the “climate card”. It also emphasized that the CCP uses practical actions to promote international cooperation on climate change and is willing to strengthen cooperation with the United States on the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win results.
On April 17 this year, Kerry, the climate envoy of the US Biden administration, ended his visit to China. On the second day of Kerry’s arrival in China, the Chinese Communist Party’s official media reported in a high-profile manner that Xi Jinping was invited to participate in the China-France-Germany Climate Video Summit. As the invited country, the CCP first announced the summit.
French public opinion was surprised by the news that China had been invited by France to participate in the meeting from the Chinese Communist Party’s official media. Subsequently, the Elysée Palace issued a statement clarifying that this was a scheduled climate meeting planned by China, France and Germany. Berlin also said in a low-key manner that the three parties had agreed on this dialogue a few weeks ago.
Information from the European Union shows that on the eve of Kerry’s visit to China, US officials have gone to Brussels for talks with a number of EU commissioners, and the two sides have communicated on their respective positions on climate issues. This means that Europe and the United States have already coordinated their positions on climate issues.
The Chinese Communist Party’s official media reported that the leaders of China, France and Germany have “in-depth exchanges of views on cooperation in tackling climate change, China-EU relations, anti-epidemic cooperation, and major international and regional issues.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s official media also emphasized that Xi Jinping stated at the meeting that addressing climate change “should not become a bargaining chip for geopolitics, a target for attacking other countries, or an excuse for trade barriers”.
The French Broadcasting Report pointed out that the target of Xi Jinping’s remarks is obviously the United States. Moreover, on the day of the video summit between the CCP and France and Germany, the Hong Kong court announced the verdicts against Li Zhiying, Martin Lee, Li Zhuoren, He Junfeng and others. It was obvious what message the CCP tried to convey to the international community.
Jennifer Tollmann, an expert in charge of climate diplomacy at European think tank E3G, told the French Le Monde that on the eve of the climate summit held in the United States, the CCP’s official media reported on the climate summit between the CCP and France and Germany. The competition for leadership in the climate field is also to show China that the Chinese Communist government will not succumb to climate pressure from the United States.
Dimitri de Boer, head of the European environmental protection organization ClientEarth’s China office, analyzed that Xi Jinping also tried to show that the relationship between Beijing and Brussels on climate issues goes far beyond that with Washington.
Some commentators in the United States compare Beijing’s climate diplomacy with the ping-pong diplomacy that promoted the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in the 1970s, and believe that climate issues are becoming a major bargaining chip in the CCP’s diplomacy.
The Epoch Times previously reported that some experts on China said that the Biden administration should not allow the CCP to use climate change as a bargaining chip and demand that the United States make concessions in key areas such as human rights, trade, and national security.
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