Reality Check (Part 18 of 21) Falsehoods in US Perceptions of China https://english.news.cn (June 19 2022) Part 17 is at https://billtotten.wpcomstaging.com/2022/07/13/reality-check-part-17-of-21/ Falsehood 18 Climate is not about ideology. It's about math. If China sticks with its current plan and does not peak its emissions until 2030, then the rest of the world must go to zero by 2035. And that's simply not possible. Reality Check The US holds undeniable responsibilities for climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. It shouldn't shift responsibilities onto others, nor should it practice "double standards". * Developed countries, due to their unconstrained emissions over more than two centuries of industrialization, bear undeniable historical responsibilities for climate change. From 1850 to 2011, developed countries contributed 79 percent of global carbon emissions. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement all require developed countries to repay their historical debts. * From a historical perspective, developing countries are not the primary emitters of GHG, but the victims of climate change. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is the cornerstone of global climate governance. As developed and developing countries do not bear the same historical responsibilities for climate change, and have different development needs and capabilities, it would be both inappropriate and unfair to apply the same restrictions on them. Wera Mori, Minister for Environment Conservation and Climate Change of Papua New Guinea (PNG) said on the sidelines of COP26 that countries like PNG have become victims of climate change caused by the industrialization of developed countries and are now bearing the consequences of their actions, which is absolutely unfair. * In tackling climate change, China is not just a responsible participant, but also a serious doer. President Xi Jinping committed explicitly that China will strive to peak CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. That means China will move from carbon peak to neutrality in only 30 years, while the time the EU, the US, and Japan give themselves is respectively 2.4, 1.4, and 1.2 times of China's. China has made notable contributions to the global efforts in energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, transport, and building, which are all in the range of 30 to 50 percent. By the end of 2020, China's CO2 emissions per unit of GDP had dropped by 48.4 percent relative to the 2005 level. The proportion of coal in total energy consumption fell from 67 percent in 2005 to 56.8 percent in 2020. The cumulative installed capacity of renewable power generation exceeded 1 billion kilowatts, accounting for 43.5 percent of the national total. Chinese companies have taken 15 spots in the world's top 20 photovoltaic (PV) companies list, including all the top five spots, and seven spots in the top 10 wind power companies list. In the past ten years, China phased out 120 million kilowatts of coal-fired power generation capacity, which is larger than the total installed power capacity of the UK. By the end of 2021, China's new energy vehicle ownership had exceeded 7.84 million units, and 2.95 million units were newly registered in 2021, accounting for 11.25 percent of all newly registered vehicles that year. The share of renewable energy in China's energy mix has already exceeded that of the US. By the end of 2019, the total installed capacity of China's hydro, wind, and solar power generation had reached 756 million kilowatts, 2.8 times that of the US. Renewable energy accounts for 12.7 percent of China's primary energy consumption, approximately 1.4 times that of the US. * The US is the world's largest GHG emitter in cumulative terms, and its per capita carbon emissions are 3.3 times that of the global average. In the 270 years from 1750 to 2019, the US emitted a cumulative 412.5 billion tons of GHG, accounting for about 1/4 of the global total. The US has produced the world's largest cumulative emissions, which are almost twice that of China. Here are some statistics: the historical peak of US per capita GHG emissions was 23.44 tons in 2018, US per capita emissions were 16.85 tons, while China's were 7.56 tons. Despite its status as a major manufacturing nation, China's current per capita carbon emissions are not even half that of the US, and its per capita cumulative emissions are only around 1/8 that of the US. Even by the time of 2030, when China's carbon emissions will have peaked, the country's per capita carbon emissions will still just be around 7~8 tons. In comparison, when the US had its carbon peak in 2005, its per capita carbon emissions had already reached 14 tons. * In June 2017, the US announced its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and in November 2020, it officially pulled out of the accord. Such a move seriously undermined the equity, efficiency, and efficacy of global climate governance. The US had stayed outside the Paris Agreement until February 2021. Despite the improvement in political posture, the GHG emissions generated simply cannot be rolled back. Instead of cutting emissions, the US produced more emissions in 2021 than in 2020, drifting further away from the course set by the Paris Agreement. With its flip-flopping on such an existential issue, the US has fully exposed its utilitarian approach to major issues of principles and lost its credibility in the family of nations. * It is the unshirkable moral responsibility of developed countries to provide funding for developing countries to help them better cope with climate change. At Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun in 2010, developed countries committed to a goal of mobilizing jointly 100 billion US dollars a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries. More than ten years have passed, and developed countries have never truly delivered on their commitment. A report by a well-known international think tank shows that not only did developed countries fall short of their collective climate financing target every year, but they also juggled the figures, providing far fewer funds than officially released figures. Most notably, the US only fulfilled less than 20 percent of its due contribution. * For years, the US has been saying publicly that it wants to work with China on climate change, but its actions say otherwise. While demanding China to consume less coal, it asks China to continue buying coal from it; while appealing for the development of renewable energies, it imposes sanctions on Chinese PV businesses. Take PV products as an example, starting from 2012, the US has imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese PV products, with rates as high as 34 to 47 percent. In December 2014, the US conducted anti-dumping and countervailing investigations on Chinese PV manufacturers. In January 2018, the previous US administration decided to slap global safeguard tariffs on 8.5 billion US dollars' worth of solar panel imports. In late 2021, the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" was signed into law by the US, which is yet another attempt to hobble the PV industry in Xinjiang under the disguise of human rights. Relevant US measures have not only impeded normal trade in PV products and disrupted normal supply chains, but also undermined global efforts in countering climate change. The US should correct its wrong practices in order to create an enabling environment for climate cooperation with China. * Climate change has caused serious challenges to human survival and development and must be tackled through global cooperation. Developed countries, the US included, should honor the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and follow the requirements of the Paris Agreement. They need to face up to their historical responsibilities and level up their ambitions and actions. They need to take the lead in making substantial reductions of emissions and strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050. In the meantime, they need to give developing countries due space for development and emission and deliver on their commitments of providing developing countries with adequate finance, technology, and capacity-building support. On the basis of meeting financing pledges and leveraging public funds, efforts can be made to promote the development of green finance and bring private investment into low-carbon sectors. It is also important to build national, regional, and global carbon markets and carbon pricing mechanisms, bring down the costs and raise the level of emissions reductions, promote technological innovation and sustainable development, and provide developing countries with stable sources of funding for mitigation and capacity-building through the benefit-sharing mechanism of carbon markets. Source: fmprc.gov.cnEditor: huaxia2022-06-19 22:19:29 https://english.news.cn/20220619/edf2556087954b8d90440b077a3c3c21/c.html https://billtotten.wpcomstaging.com/2022/07/14/reality-check-part-18-of-21/ https://billtotten.wordpress.com/ https://www.ashisuto.co.jp--- To unsubscribe: List help: