The Biden administration on Saturday called on China to do more to help developing countries combat climate change, urging the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter to support international climate finance funds. to which they have so far refused to support.
Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen delivered the message during the second day of the meeting in Beijing, where she is seeking to promote areas of cooperation between the United States and China. Although China has expressed support for programs that help poor countries cope with the effects of climate change, it opposes paying for such funds, citing that it also is a developing country.
Yellen said that China, like the United States, has a responsibility to be the leader in climate finance.
“Climate finance should be targeted efficiently and effectively,” Ms Yellen said during a meeting with a panel of international and Chinese sustainability experts on Saturday morning. “I believe that if China supports existing multilateral climate organizations such as the Green Climate Fund and the Climate Investment Fund along with us and other donor governments, we can have a great impact. than today.”
The United States and China are both facing pressure from developing countries to raise more money for countries struggling to close coal power plants, develop renewable energy or deal with the consequences of climate change by building things like sea walls, improving drainage, or developing early. flood and tornado warning system.
Under President Barack Obama, the United States committed $3 billion over four years to the Green Climate Fund, a United Nations-led program to help poor countries. So far it has delivered $2 billion of that pledge. Republicans have repeatedly sought to block taxpayer spending on funds and other climate finance, but President Biden has used discretionary spending within the State Department to fulfill part of a U.S. pledge. Ky.
According to studies, China has committed $3.1 billion and it has made about 10% of it. It also provides money to developing nations through what its leaders call “South-South” cooperation. That’s because according to the United Nations climate agency, China is still considered a developing country and not an industrialized country, even though China now has a much larger manufacturing sector. than any other country. It has long resisted pressure to contribute to the same climate funds as rich nations, arguing that advanced economies like the United States have been polluting longer and are more responsible for helping address climate change.
“China has no obligation to provide financial assistance” under UN climate rules, said Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate envoy. in an interview last year after the creation of a new multilateral fund to help poor countries address the economic damage caused by climate disasters.
John Morton, a former Treasury Department climate adviser under the Biden administration, said any meaningful contribution from China could help the US convince members of Congress and others to approve it. climate finance. He also said there could be other ways the two superpowers could work together to help developing nations reduce their coal use or limit methane, a potent greenhouse gas that leaks from fossil fuels. oil and gas wells.
“It would be a huge consequence for the world,” he said. “Whenever there is an opportunity to forge closer ties with China on climate, it is an opportunity that should be seized immediately.”
The United States and China are joint leaders of the Sustainable Finance Working Group at the Group of 20, which offers the two countries the opportunity to work more closely on global climate issues.
Ms. Yellen is the second Cabinet member of the Biden administration to visit China in recent weeks; foreign minister Antony J. Blinken was there in June. End of July, John Kerry, President Biden’s special envoy on climate change, will visit to restart negotiations on global warming between the world’s two biggest polluters.
In addition, President Biden will attend a forum in London on Tuesday that seeks to mobilize climate finance, specifically “to marginalize private finance, for clean energy deployment and adaptation in the region.” developing countries,” said Jake Sullivan, the White House national security official who advises, on Friday.
During a four-day trip to China, Yellen sought to reopen channels of communication with her counterparts in Beijing after years of growing distrust due to trade wars and export controls. for sensitive technology. During meetings this week, Yellen criticized China’s treatment of foreign businesses but also made the point that more frequent dialogue between senior officials would help prevent misunderstandings. policy is increasingly serious.
The Finance Minister also discussed climate finance during his meeting with Premier Li Qiang on Friday in Beijing. On Saturday afternoon, she made an appointment with Deputy Prime Minister He Lifengher partner, who oversees the Chinese economy.
Over the past two years, China has built more coal-fired power plants and expanded coal mines, causing concern in Washington.
Chinese officials say they plan to phase out carbon emissions gradually completely in 2060starting no later than 2030. And China has led the world in solar installations and exports of solar panels to other countries.
China is doubling coal consumption partly for national security reasons – it does not want to rely more on imported oil and natural gas, which could be cut in a crisis. panic.
China’s energy experts say the new coal-fired power plants will be used mainly during peak electricity demand, not around the clock. But critics say that once built, the plants will inevitably harm the climate in the long run.
