China downplays worldwide hopes of exceeding carbon emissions targets forward of assembly with Biden's local weather czar – What's happening with that?
From the DAILY CALLER
Owen Klinsky
Contributor
China's top energy officials on Thursday dampened hopes that the country's carbon dioxide emissions had already peaked, following reports in July that the country would not increase emissions further after this year, according to Bloomberg.
In July, China's carbon emissions were said to fall or remain flat this year after data suggested a reduction in coal use and an increase in green power production. But Song Wen, head of legal and institutional reform at China's National Energy Administration, played down the rumors on Thursday, adding that even meeting China's original carbon emissions target of peaking by 2030 would require “great efforts,” Bloomberg reported.
“We should not forget that China is still a developing country pursuing modernization for a huge population,” Wen told Bloomberg at a press conference on Thursday. “Great efforts are still needed to achieve the goals of maximum carbon emissions and carbon neutrality.”
Wen's comments come a week before a planned meeting between President Joe Biden's climate adviser John Podesta and China's top energy official Liu Zhenmin to discuss cooperation on environmental protection and reducing greenhouse gas emissions beyond carbon dioxide, such as methane and nitrous oxide. Both methane and nitrous oxide are produced when coal is burned. (RELATED: Biden administration official pushing green plane initiative owns oil well)
China accounted for two-thirds of all new coal-fired power plants worldwide in 2023, after approving an average of two plants per week the year before, according to the New York Times and a study by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. The country was responsible for about half of global coal production and consumption in February 2023.
“When it comes to coal, China is such an overwhelming factor. Whatever happens there really determines the global trend,” Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told the New York Times in April.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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