Internationalism in climate action and China’s role

Abstract

The world is facing dual challenges of generating an economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, and transitioning to a low-carbon economy to tackle climate change. Strongly interrelated global challenges will require an integrated and coordinated response by all countries to manage the risk and lay the foundation for building back better. As the world’s biggest emitter and the second-largest economy, China is a very important player in international collaboration and coordination in climate action. Against this backdrop, this paper looks into the increasingly crucial role that China is playing in global climate action, especially focusing on three aspects: China’s domestic and foreign policymaking for the energy transition; its role in promoting multilateralism and international collaboration on building a sustainable world; and how it could accelerate climate action and diplomacy through research, development and innovation. In the critical decade of the 2020s, China has a great opportunity to further transform and upgrade its energy and industrial structures, promote research, development and the application of green and low-carbon technologies and intensify international climate cooperation on climate change. China should aim to be at the forefront of raising climate ambition and accelerating climate action for a sustainable and more equitable world.

Challenges and Opportunities for the Energy Sector in the Face of Threats Such as Climate Change and the COVID-19 Pandemic—An International Perspective

“…The authors claim that the post-pandemic Chinese economy can support the fight against climate change. Kyriakopoulou et al [26] also perceive the possible achievement of carbon neutrality in China as a significant advantage after the pandemic. Yang et al [27] even suggest that China's path to carbon neutrality is a game changer for counteracting climate change, since this country alone can reduce global anthropogenic warming up to 0.3 • C. At the same time, because of the improving air quality, 1.8 million people could be saved from death due to high levels of pollutants in the air.…”