China will maintain its commitments “unwaveringly,” but the pace of such efforts “must and must” be determined without outside interference, Xi said Tuesday. It is a far cry from the 2015 Paris climate accord when a Chinese-US agreement paved the way for the international goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels.
The urgency of realizing those ambitions has been brought into sharp focus in recent weeks by historic heat waves across China, southern Europe, the Middle East and North America. The increase in average temperatures fueled by the El Niño climate pattern makes 2023 the warmest year since humans began keeping track.
European lawmakers, meanwhile, hoping to take a break from the challenges of the war in Ukraine with the cherished tradition of the mid-July vacation, were met with hellish temperatures as another heat wave served as a scorcher. a reminder that the climate crisis does not take a summer holiday.
Brussels’ ambitious climate plans, however, have been strongly opposed by conservatives in the European Union in a sign that the bloc remains divided on how, exactly, to proceed.
The actions of Europe and China – especially how quickly they can move from coal to renewable energy – will be critical for the world’s already slim chance of meeting the target of the Paris agreement.
Beijing has set its own target to reverse rising carbon dioxide emissions before 2030, but it has also pledged to support a global transition to clean energy by phasing out power plants in coal abroad.
Xi’s message – delivered at the same time Kerry was in town – was no coincidence, according to Li Shuo, a senior policy adviser for Greenpeace East Asia. Xi indicated that “China will decide its own path to achieve the carbon goals and not be dictated to by others,” he said.
Climate negotiations between the two countries, once a rare bright spot in a fraught relationship, have been further marred by tensions over trade, technology and human rights. Talks are now far from the rapid reduction in emissions mandated by the United Nations to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
Kerry spent a 12-hour day with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, on Monday. When he saw Vice Premier Han Zheng on Wednesday, Kerry called for climate to be a “free-standing” issue, kept separate from the broader bilateral acrimony.
But many China experts framed the visit as part of a temporary diplomatic reset, following trips by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, rather than a breakthrough in negotiations. in the climate.
China has renewed a change in the climate approach of the Biden administration, where the talks have been supplemented with more coercive measures, such as tariffs on high-emission steel and aluminum imports, to will push China to act faster.
The United States “ignores China’s contributions and achievements in reducing emissions and blindly pressures China to make unrealistic commitments,” said Chen Ying, a researcher at the state-run Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with local media.
But it’s not just pressure from the United States that is forcing China to act.
Flash floods, sudden cold snaps and other deadly extreme weather events in recent years have raised Chinese public awareness of the dangers of global warming. The government responded with promises to develop warning systems and disaster response mechanisms to protect livelihoods, economies and even valuable historical artifacts during future crises.
But people in China are feeling worse this summer. Temperatures in the northern part of the country have reached record highs in recent weeks, even as heavy rains and storms batter its southeastern coast.
A record high of 52.2 degrees Celsius (126 Fahrenheit) was recorded on Sunday in a small town in the Turpan Depression, a desert in the northwest that sinks up to 150 meters below sea level.
At the other end of the country, the southeastern province of Guangxi issued a red alert for flooding and landslides on Tuesday as Typhoon Talim made landfall.
Beijing’s response so far has focused mainly on mitigating the fallout from the events themselves, rather than increasing its ambitions to curb global warming. Environmental activists worry that Beijing is prioritizing energy security, which is at odds with climate goals.
After last summer’s – also record-breaking – heat wave dried up reservoirs and caused power shortages from idle hydropower stations, the government is turning to coal to make sure the same doesn’t happen. this year. Local authorities have approved more coal power plants in 2022 than in any year since 2015.
Ensuring electricity supply during peak summer demand affects the well-being of every family, another vice premier, Ding Xuexiang, told one of China’s largest power providers over the weekend.
To maintain air conditioning, providers such as CHN Energy, one of the largest generators of coal-fired power, set daily records for supply, the Global Times, a state-run newspaper , reported Monday.
In Europe, the latest heat wave has already seen temperatures as high as 104 degrees (40C) in parts of Spain, France, Italy and Greece. In Sicily, the temperature is as high as 115 degrees (46.3C).
More than 61,000 people died in heat waves across Europe last year, according to a recent study published in Nature Medicine. A study published in May projects that the chance of previously rare heat waves in Europe will increase as the climate warms.
As lawmakers in Brussels wrestle with the EU’s ambitious climate plans, NATO heads of state and government gathered in Vilnius, Lithuania, for a summit that made the headlines all but the climate conversation. .
There are signs that some Europeans want their leaders to do more, more easily. “The suicidal attempt to deny the face of the climate emergency is fighting against unacceptable data, such as the data from last summer and what is beginning to emerge this year,” read an editorial published last Wednesday in Spain’s El País.
“The need for more efficient and comprehensive preventive measures,” said the editorial, “should not be debatable.”
The question now is whether another deadly summer will lead enough Europeans to push for climate action come autumn – and whether governments will respond.
Vic Chiang in Taipei, Taiwan, and Beatriz Ríos in Brussels contributed to this report.