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This is not bullying but legitimate critique. The state that is often bulling its neighbors is elsewhere.
Yeah, the world should rather hail the reasonable people of the governments who are refusing to exit from fossil fuels. These Europeans and their allies get it all wrong (s/, just to be safe).
… late in the second week Colombia upstaged their hosts when it announced the creation of an initiative whereby a group of countries would meet to plan the phase out of fossil fuels. The 24-country bloc will meet next April in Santa Marta for a conference co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands. Other participating countries include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Nepal, Panama, Spain, Slovenia, Vanuatu and Tuvalu.
So basically it is Latin America, Europe, and Island Nations that take serious action to phase out fossil fuels.
The world’s two largest polluters - China and the U.S. - as well as Russia and some oil-producing countries in the Middle East are doing business as usual.
I mean all those who have said that China is leading in the fight against climate change shall now be silent. If you read the reports on the COP it is obvious that Beijing is interested in money and in money only.
The BBC wrote on Beijing;s pavillon at the COP 30 in Brazil that China ramps up charm offensive with extra pandas:
Was it the many copies of Xi Jinping’s speeches on sale? Or the ubiquitous cuddly pandas?
Perhaps it was the much-needed fans here for the heat and humidity outside. Whatever the reason, China’s pavilion here proved a huge draw, with long queues forming of people keen to get their hands on Chinese tat.
The pandas definitely seem to be part of the charm offensive from the world’s biggest emitter of planet-warming carbon.
Many expected China to take a bigger leadership role – but the world’s dominant producer of renewable technology has a different view.
China was content to sit quietly and support others who want to slow down the transition away from fossil fuels like India and Saudi Arabia. It is the world’s biggest coal producer after all.
Despite their current power and size, it seems to still suit China to play the role of the developing country that it was when the UN climate body was formed back in 1992. With extra pandas!
8·12 days agoYeah, mainland China - the other China, so to say - shows a similar stance. Despite critical voices of Beijing regarding Israel’s war in Gaza, ties between China and Israel have in many ways proven resilient. Bilateral trade rose to USD 16.3 billion in 2024, up almost 12% from 2023, for example.
Despite Israel having banned Chinese suppliers from sensitive military procurement, commercial ties improved as trade data shows. In addition to U.S. companies, Chinese technology firms are a decisive supplier of Israel surveillance tech in Gaza and the West Bank (you’d easily find many reports on the web about that).
Oh, yeah, the Sanchez government’s stark light on the corruption elsewhere … perfect background (s/)
As an addition:
European partners criticize Spain’s relationship with China as the Kings dine with Xi Jinping
Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands have shown their concerns towards the Asian country, an attitude and positioning that sharply contrasts with Spain’s approach
… “The Italian Minister of Economy, Giorgetti, already called on the European Union to adopt a united stance against China to curb the threat to our industry. A similar sentiment exists in Germany, where the government coalition is taking the lead in reviewing the trade policy between China and Germany. The Netherlands has made a decision regarding Nexperia, and France is considering measures against Shein,” these same sources elaborate …
Regarding the case of Shein, French authorities ordered the inspection of up to 200,000 packages from the company last week to check for possible violations of regulations, a measure intertwined with the Paris Prosecutor’s decision to initiate an investigation for “dissemination of images or representations of minors of a pornographic nature” affecting this same company, as well as the Chinese platforms AliExpress and Temu …
The European Commission prefers not to comment at this time. In the past, they were very critical of Pedro Sánchez’s government, especially when the Prime Minister visited China and requested not to impose tariffs on Chinese electric cars during EU-China negotiations …
No, I don’t say, “at what cost” … I say the same as in my initial comment: China is far away from any leadership position when it comes to climate change. You need to read a bit more from your own post than just the headline:
While China appears to be outperforming on its peak emissions pledge, some sectors are moving in the opposite direction. Transport emissions fell by five per cent in Q3, but plastics and chemical production saw a 10 per cent rise. China is also on track to miss its 2020–25 goal of cutting carbon intensity — emissions per unit of GDP — meaning steeper reductions will be required …
In September, China announced its new 2035 target: cutting total greenhouse gas emissions by 7–10 per cent from their peak. Experts say the target is modest …
Your linked report contains practically the same content as mine, it’s just that the title appears to be a bit more positive; but that’s unjustified. China is not on track, let alone in a leadership position. Just read the links in my previous comment above.
[Edit typo.]
We could all hope that China would lead the world in climate change as the country is the world’s biggest polluter (with coal consumption still on the rise as I wrote just in another thread).
However, China’s is far away of any leadership when it comes to reduce carbon emission.
The scientists from the Climate Actions Tracker call China’s recent announcement to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035 as ‘disappointing’ as China - given the country’s size and economy - would need to cut emissions by around 30% for the world to be on track to the Paris goal.
According to the scientists, no country is on track to Paris, but while the EU and Brazil’s climate actions are insufficient, China and India’s are considered highly insufficient.
So it doesn’t look like leadership.
We could all hope that China would lead the world in climate change as the country is the world’s biggest polluter (with coal consumption still on the rise as I wrote just in another thread).
However, China’s is far away of any leadership when it comes to reduce carbon emission.
The scientists from the Climate Actions Tracker call China’s recent announcement to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035 as ‘disappointing’ as China - given the country’s size and economy - would need to cut emissions by around 30% for the world to be on track to the Paris goal.
According to the scientists, no country is on track to Paris, but while the EU and Brazil’s climate actions are insufficient, China and India’s are considered highly insufficient.
So it doesn’t look like leadership.
That leads the UK in the wrong direction.
Contrary to that, the EU is set to ban Chinese universities from half of Horizon Europe, including health care and defense research in the 2026-27 research programme. Here is a paywalled report on it or the original EU Horizon draft paper (opens pdf) stating that, “Legal entities established in China are not eligible to participate in Innovation Actions in any capacity.”
In 2024, Spain exported USD 7.7 billion to China, while Spain imported USD 46.6 billion from China (according to the Comtrade database). This resulted in a trade deficit of USD 39.9 billion, slightly higher that in 2023 and the highest in Spain’s trade history with China.
Beijing apparently applies the same playbook with Spain as with all other countries.
What does Madrid strengthen?
Carbon Brief made its analysis based on emission data by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, just read the report. This data is skewed and highly biased.
Carbon Brief made its analysis based on emission data by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, just read the report. This data is skewed and highly biased.
Me too.