{"id":38216,"date":"2024-11-26T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=38216"},"modified":"2024-11-28T23:43:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T23:43:51","slug":"chinas-influence-grows-at-cop29-climate-talks-as-us-leadership-fades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/chinas-influence-grows-at-cop29-climate-talks-as-us-leadership-fades\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s influence grows at COP29 climate talks as US leadership fades"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lucia Green-Weiskel<\/a>, Trinity College<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 U.N. climate talks<\/a> ended in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 24 after two weeks of arguments, agreements and side deals involving 106 heads of states and over 50,000 business leaders, activists and government representatives of almost every country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few say the conference was a resounding success. But neither was it a failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The central task of the conference<\/a>, known as COP29, was to come up with funding to help developing countries become more resilient to the effects of climate change and to transition to more sustainable economic growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest challenge was agreeing on who should pay, and the results say a lot about the shifting international dynamics and offer some insight into China\u2019s role. As a political science professor<\/a> who has worked on clean tech policy involving Asia, I followed the talks with interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slow global progress<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Over three decades of global climate talks, the world\u2019s countries have agreed to cut their emissions<\/a>, phase out fossil fuels<\/a>, end inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies<\/a> and stop deforestation<\/a>, among many other landmark deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have acknowledged since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992<\/a>, when they agreed to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/a>, that greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, would harm the climate and ecosystems, and that the governments of the world must work together to solve the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But progress has been slow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenhouse gas emissions were at record highs<\/a> in 2024. Governments are still subsidizing fossil fuels<\/a>, encouraging their use. And the world is failing to keep warming under 1.5 degrees<\/a> Celsius compared with preindustrial times \u2013 a target established under the 2015 Paris Agreement<\/a> to avoid the worst effects of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extreme weather, from lethal heat waves to devastating tropical cyclones and floods, has become more intense as temperatures have risen<\/a>. And the poorest countries have faced some of the worst damage from climate change, while doing the least cause it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Money for the poorest countries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Developing countries argue that they need US$1.3 trillion a year<\/a> in financial support and investment by 2035 from the wealthiest nations \u2013 historically the largest greenhouse gas emitters \u2013 to adapt to climate change and develop sustainably as they grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That matters to countries everywhere because how these fast-growing populations<\/a> build out energy systems and transportation in the coming decades will affect the future for the entire planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Four
Negotiators at the COP29 climate talks. Less developed countries were unhappy with the outcome. Kiara Worth\/UN Climate Change via Flickr<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the Baku conference, member nations agreed to triple their existing pledge<\/a> of $100 billion a year to at least $300 billion a year by 2035 to help developing countries. But that was far short of what economists have estimated<\/a> those countries will need to develop clean energy economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The money can also come from a variety of sources<\/a>. Developing countries wanted grants, rather than loans that would increase what for many is already crushing debt<\/a>. Under the new agreement, countries can count funding that comes from private investments and loans from the World Bank and other development banks, as well as public funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Groups have proposed raising some of those funds with additional taxes<\/a> on international shipping and aviation. A U.N. study projects that if levies were set somewhere between $150 and $300 for each ton of carbon pollution, the fund could generate as much as $127 billion per year<\/a>. Other proposals have included taxing fossil fuels, cryptocurrencies<\/a> and plastics, which all contribute to climate change, as well as financial transactions and carbon trading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s expanding role<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How much of a leadership role China takes in global climate efforts is an important question going forward, particularly with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump expected to throttle back U.S. support<\/a> for climate policies and international funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China is now the world\u2019s largest emitter<\/a> of greenhouse gases and the second-largest economy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China also stands to gain as provider of the market majority of green technologies<\/a>, including solar panels, wind turbines, batteries<\/a> and electric vehicles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n