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Climate protection in China: development and projects

2021-05-20T23:15:26.334Z


In terms of climate protection, China is pursuing a strategy that is primarily focused on innovation. Nevertheless, fossil fuels currently still play a major role.


In terms of climate protection, China is pursuing a strategy that is primarily focused on innovation.

Nevertheless, fossil fuels currently still play a major role.

  • The

    Chinese

    leadership plans to

    operate

    completely climate-neutral

    by

    2060

  • Cooperation with the

    EU

    and the

    USA

    play

    an important role

    in

    climate protection

  • However,

    many new coal-fired power plants went into operation

    in

    China

    in

    2019

China: The role of climate protection

Beijing / Munich - As the most populous country in the world, China is also the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. It currently accounts for a good quarter of global emissions. Per capita and in terms of cumulative emissions - i.e. those since the beginning of industrialization in the mid-19th century - China is far behind the USA and other Western countries.

The Chinese President Xi Jinping announced to the United Nations in September 2020 that the People's Republic of China will reach the peak of greenhouse gas emissions “before 2030” and will operate in a completely climate-neutral manner by 2060. China wants to achieve this through technological innovation, but also through the increased use of renewable energies. No country is already installing as much wind and solar energy as China. At the same time, China is also the world's largest coal generator. At the US President Joe Biden's climate summit in April 2021, Xi announced that coal consumption would decrease from 2025 and should be strictly controlled until then.

Climate protection is now on the political agenda in China.

The country has signed the Paris Climate Agreement together with most countries in the world.

This stipulates that the global temperature increase must be limited to well below two degrees.

In November, the states will have to tighten their targets again at the Glasgow climate conference.

So far, China's emissions are still rising.

At the end of 2020, CO2 emissions were 1.5 percent higher than at the end of 2019.

In order to meet the challenges of climate change, the EU and China have been working together on a political level for some time.

Since 2005 there has been a partnership between the European Union and the People's Republic of China, which deals with climate change and environmental protection.

Most recently, the EU-China summit in July 2018 reaffirmed the determination and effort to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Since then, both sides have repeatedly spoken about the topic.

More intensive cooperation was agreed in the following areas in particular:

  • Emissions trading (as part of a letter of intent)

  • Energy efficiency

  • Clean energy, phasing out coal in the long term

  • Low carbon cities

  • Low-emission transport

  • Investments in air conditioning technology

One of the Chinese climate protection projects is the establishment of an emissions trading system similar to that of Europe.

Cooperation with EU experts and on simulation models plays an important role in this.

Climate protection: China also cooperates with the USA

Not only the EU, but also the USA are an important partner for China when it comes to climate protection.

The two countries recently agreed on more intensive cooperation.

During the presidency of Donald Trump this cooperation had fallen asleep.

After Joe Biden took office in January 2021, both sides resumed the thread of conversation - for example, on a trip by US climate envoy John Kerry to Shanghai in April 2021 to meet his counterpart, the experienced Chinese climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua.

Both agreed on a joint working group on the climate and closer cooperation.

A few days later, President Xi Jinping joined the virtual climate summit hosted by Biden.

Climate protection in China: alternative mobility concepts

In some areas, the People's Republic of China is playing a pioneering role in terms of climate-friendly business practices. The topic of electromobility should be mentioned here in particular. Beijing has been pushing the expansion of electromobility for years - through sales targets for electric cars, quotas and subsidies. For private transport, the charging infrastructure for electric cars has recently been greatly expanded, especially in major cities in eastern China. There are now over 1.3 million charging stations across the country, almost 42.5 percent of which are in the public sector. German carmakers such as VW are also increasingly investing in alternative drives in China. In order to survive in the Chinese market, all manufacturers must increasingly rely on battery-powered electric cars, plug-in hybrid vehicles or even fuel cell cars.

China is also working on setting up a battery production facility for electric cars and on battery storage systems.

The country still needs cooperation with foreign partners, especially for individual special components.

These components are either produced directly in China by foreign partners or imported into the country.

China and Climate Protection: The Problem of Coal Production

Even if the Chinese government is pursuing ambitious goals for climate protection on paper, coal-fired power plants with an output of over 43,800 megawatts were commissioned within the country in 2019 alone.

In 2020, coal-fired power plants with an output of over 38,000 megawatts went into operation.

Additional capacities have been approved.

In order to achieve the climate targets set by the government, the country would have to reduce its coal-fired power plant capacity to over 40 percent by 2030 alone. Given Xi's statement to reduce consumption from 2025, experts hope that some local building permits for new coal-fired power plants will be withdrawn. Existing coal-fired power plants would then have to be closed as soon as possible.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-05-20

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