Sun Peisong and Dr Yang Ganfu

For decades, the majority of Western media has been reporting that China is a country with no respect to her people, lacks innovation, pursues economic growth at the expense of the environment, and that its political system, cultural dimensions and economic models are outdated and wrong. The West would not appreciate most of China’s initiatives in national development.

But in recent years, Western media have changed their old ideologies by giving a fair and objective view of China in the form of little criticism of China’s environmental protection, responding to climate change and promoting green development. This change has happened because the “climate emergency” has made the international community realise for the first time that human behaviour has endangered its own survival, and China has led the world in addressing climate challenges. 

At the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), many delegates, climate campaigners and heads of state, including Namibian President Dr Hage Geingob, criticised and accused the West and America for their roles in causing the current climate emergency, and of playing a deeply obstructive role by blocking the demands of developing countries. But eventually America, the largest economy and the largest carbon emitter, agreed to join hands with China and other countries to commit themselves on climate mitigation.

The summit made history as the first to see the topic of loss and damage funding formally make it onto the COP27 agenda. The issue to establish the “loss and damage” fund to help developing countries address climate challenges was first raised by climate-vulnerable countries, including China and the G-77. 

In December 2021, after the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, the US Diplomatic Scholar published an article claiming that “China’s climate vision has gone beyond the scope of the UN Climate Change Conference”. In June 2022, Bloomberg, highlighting China’s contribution to reducing global emissions, concluded that “China’s air pollution reduction in seven years is as much as America reduces in 30 years”. On 31 October, the Nasdaq website also posted: “Without China, No de-carbonisation”. Such truth-seeking media reports noted above had been almost unthinkable in previous years.

Climate change brings about negative impacts on rainy seasons, leads to melting glaciers, increases land moisture evaporation, and brings disasters to forests, which furthermore weakens our ability to sink more carbon. Floods, droughts, heatwaves, extreme storms and wildfires are becoming more frequent. Burning coal, oil and natural gas are the major sources of carbon dioxide, contributing to 66% of global warming. Hence, carbon reduction is considered the most powerful weapon to combat climate change.

By virtue of China’s contribution, the Paris Agreement was successfully adopted in 2015. Some European professionals, however, cast doubts that China, having relied on coal for decades, will “truly ease its coal obsession”. In September 2020, China announced her goals to bring its carbon dioxide emissions to a peak by 2030, and become carbon-neutral by 2060. Western commentators believe it is difficult for China to honour her pledges, and some even said it is just a trick by China to please Mr Biden’s administration when America reversed Mr Trump’s skeptical and irresponsible policies and attitudes on climate issues. But a few years later, these Western commentators were surprised to find themselves simply wrong.

Being a carbon-neutral state means China will have to cut its carbon emissions by as much as 90%. The rest of the carbon emissions must be offset via natural systems or technologies that absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit. Obviously, China’s commitment is the world’s largest single climate effort to date. In 2021, President Xi of China pledged: “As the world’s largest developing country, China will reduce the world’s highest carbon emission intensity, and move from carbon peak to carbon neutrality in the shortest time in human history”. 

To implement her climate policies, China has established a national network in a bid to achieve its goal of reducing carbon emissions. Last year, Li Fulong, Director of the Development and Planning Department of China’s National Energy Administration, announced at a press conference that the important proportion of non-fossil energy consumption will reach about 25% by 2030. It will increase by an average of 0.9 percentage point per year over the next decade. This means China will add about 70 million tonnes of coal-equivalent non-fossil energy per year, which will be a very tough task.

*Dr Yang Ganfu is the Director of Africa Studies, Lianyungang Development Institute. Sun Peisong is a research fellow, World Development Institute, the State Council of China.