The world’s most important leadership immutability is now happening in China.
At this week’s Communist Party Congress, Xi Jinping, the country’s supreme leader for the past decade, will almost certainly secure another five-year term. Each of Mr. Xi’s most recent predecessors resigned after about a decade to protect China from abuses of power similar to those of the chaotic Mao era. With economic growth faltering and tensions with the West mounting, Xi is expected to abandon this precedent and lead the country down a more authoritarian path.
My colleagues in and around China are covering this pivotal moment. I’m going to focus on what that means for the climate.
President Xi Jinping has stepped up China’s ambitions to cut carbon emissions and slow global warming.he repeated those goals This week is typically in grand terms. (“We must uphold and act on the principle that clear waters and lush mountains are irreplaceable assets.”) Allied with leaders who threaten to reverse. Vladimir V. Putin President Russia.
Climate change will continue to test China, and Xi Jinping
China experienced record-breaking temperatures for more than two months this summer, making it the country’s longest-lasting heat wave since modern records began in 1961. Factories have halted production to reduce strain on the power grid. The government’s chief forecaster, Chen Lijuan, said: Communist Party news agency That extreme highs could become the “new normal.”
Last year’s catastrophe was the opposite, with people drowning in subway cars after heavy summer rains flooded tunnels in the inland metropolis of Zhengzhou.
Scientists warn that global warming is increasing the variation between extreme wet and dry seasons in many regions, including China. President Xi must be keenly aware that for centuries China’s political power has been inextricably linked to its leaders’ ability to manage floods, droughts and crop failures.
Xi has big plans to reduce emissions…
China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, with steel factories, cement factories, coal-fired power plants, and power-hungry factories.
Xi hopes that China’s industrial economy will continue to grow. But he’s also committed to making it greener: he’s taken some steps to make it happen, and if he’s going to deliver on his promises, he’ll do even more in his next term. Many measures will be required.
In 2020, Mr. Xi promised that China’s emissions would peak within a decade.Since then, Chinese authorities have Confirmed It provides timelines and targets for reductions in specific industry sectors. Wind and solar capacity That’s even more ambitious than Xi’s 2020 goals call for.
Xi said last year that China would stop building coal-fired power plants abroad. As of August, 26 of the 104 projects have been shelved, preventing 85 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere each year. Energy and Clean Air Research Center.
…but tensions with the West complicate matters
Last year, China and the Biden administration surprised Scottish climate negotiators by announcing a joint effort to curb fossil fuel emissions. But since then, the two countries have clashed over trade, technology and human rights, creating a “stormy sea” for China that President Xi Jinping warned at this week’s party convention. That could make it harder for the two countries to cooperate further on climate.
Officially in China Suspended Climate Negotiations It cooperated with the United States in retaliation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August. (The Communist Party considers Taiwan its own territory and does not rule out annexing the autonomous democratic island by force.)
But even if the world’s two largest emitters start talking again, one of the US’s newest and most ambitious climate initiatives could exacerbate trade tensions. The Inflation Reduction Act includes incentives for domestic production of clean energy hardware such as batteries and wind turbines. Chinese companies dominate these industries – a source of frustration for US politicians who say efforts to combat global warming are helping Chinese companies and enabling forced labor practices in China. .
And then there is Russia. Xi has emerged as Putin’s most powerful enabler in recent years. China’s purchase of Russian oil and gas has derailed US and European efforts to isolate the Kremlin for war in Ukraine.
In 2014, Xi and Putin met in Shanghai and signed a huge gas deal. Five years later, they celebrated Xi’s 66th birthday together in Tajikistan.Provided by Putin Russian ice cream As a gift, according to the official Chinese news agency. The two met again at this year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing. Joint statement He later said that the friendship between the two countries “sees no bounds”.
A few weeks later, Russian forces attacked Ukraine.
Important news from The Times
Before You Go: The Search for Identity and Sustainability
Nigerian fashion designer Bubu Ogishi founded his label in 2013. Her collection consists almost entirely of her handcrafted pieces, where she tells the story of Africa while maintaining her traditional craftsmanship and celebrating her eco-friendly fabrics. . “It’s about fusing the old with the new, preserving what’s been wasted, and then rebuilding it and rebuilding it into something new,” says Ohki.
Thank you for being a subscriber. I will be back on Friday.
Claire O’Neill and Douglas Alteen contributed to Climate Forward. View past newsletters here.