Article author:
Reuters
Beijing — The United States must fulfill its international obligations on climate change and do more than "scream the slogan," Zhao Tateken, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said on Friday in Washington's power sector. He said following a ruling by the US Supreme Court that limits emission reduction capabilities.
The Supreme Court resolved to limit the US Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired and gas-fired power plants under the Air Purification Act. Caused disappointment among environmentalists.
Zhao told reporters at regular briefings that the ruling was criticized by the international community, saying, "Just screaming for a slogan to tackle climate change. Not enough. "
"We urge developed countries, including the United States, to ... confront their historical responsibilities and show greater ambition and action," he added.
Chinese environmentalists say this decision has played an important role in ensuring a global agreement to curb climate warming greenhouse gases. He said it could further weaken broader climate relations.
"This ruling will have serious implications and will significantly weaken the conditions for future US-China climate negotiations," said Lee Shu, senior adviser to Greenpeace.
US "regression" could also reduce China's likelihood of taking more action to curb coal consumption, which reached record highs in 2021 Li added.
"The Chinese believe that there will be no quid program in the climate between them and the United States," he said.
President Xi Jinping promised last year that China would begin reducing coal consumption in 2026, and the state's think tanks would increase their coal-fired power generation capacity by another 150GW between 2021 and 2025. I expect that.
With concerns about economic growth and energy security, senior officials continue to emphasize the need to carefully manage low-carbon energy transitions.
This week, Deputy Prime Minister Han Chang described coal as the "ballast" of the economy, saying that China "needs to maintain energy security earnings based on the basic national conditions of coal dominance." Added. (Report by Martin Quin Pollard and David Stanway, edited by Kim Coghill)
