By Paul Roberts / For The Herald
The annual United Nations climate talks (COP30) concluded Nov. 22 in Belem, Brazil, with tepid agreements for more funding to address adaptation and slow progress to reduce emissions. The agreements did not include commitments to phase out fossil fuels as demanded by many nations.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “The deal shows that nations can still come together to confront the defining challenges no country can solve alone.” But he added: “I cannot pretend that COP30 has delivered everything that is needed. The gap between where we are and what science demands remains dangerously wide.”
Nearly 200 nations sent delegations to COP30. The US was noticeably absent joining Afghanistan, Myanmar and San Marino. Still, there are reasons for hope. Huge strides are being made in clean energy innovation and economics, notably from China.
In an essay published in The Economist magazine, Christiana Figueres, Costa Rican diplomat and one of the primary architects of the 2015 Paris agreement said: “The question now is weather this exponential curve of clean energy innovation can outpace the exponential curve of climate impacts.” She went on to say: “The era when American politics could make or break global climate co-operation is over. The world is no longer waiting for Washington.”
Indeed, China is leading the world in clean energy development and technology. And they are exporting their technology, to the benefit of the Chinese economy and the global environment. The Nov. 8 issue of The Economist magazine published a “Special Report: China, energy and climate” (https://tinyurl.com/EconomistChinaReport.)
The “Leader” section of The Economist (https://tinyurl.com/EconomistChinaCleanEnergy) is quoted here: “The scale of [China’s] renewable revolution is almost too vast for the human mind to grasp. By the end of last year, the country had installed 887 gigawatts of solar-power capacity; close to double Europe’s and America’s combined total.”
The Economist report continues: “The coming-together of China’s enormous manufacturing capacity and its ravenous appetite for copious, cheap, domestically produced electricity deserves to be seen in a world changing light. They have made China a new type of superpower: one which deploys clean electricity on a planetary scale.”
China is on track to meet or exceed its emission reduction targets set under the Paris agreement. The COP30 negotiators have taken notice. So have other nations seeking to transition from fossil fuels to renewables, seeking energy independence, and emissions reductions.
“China is exporting it’s [renewable] revolution to the rest of the world,” The Economist continues. “America’s current government rejects renewable technologies. … China is now making more money from exporting green technology than America makes from exporting fossil fuels. … In a world where China and America vie for advantage of all sorts, climate is an area where China has a particularly strong hand; and President Donald Trump has folded America’s.”
China is demonstrating that the technical capacity to reduce emissions is here now. What has been lacking is political will. That, too, is changing with the economics. The Economist reports: “The anti-emissions machine is powered by self-interest. More clean tech elsewhere lowers China’s own climate risks by reducing global emissions. At the same time it brings economic benefits. For many years countries’ economic and climate interests have often been thought to diverge. … Today the economic and climate interests of the world’s biggest manufacturer and many of its export markets are increasingly aligned.”
China is well aware of it’s growing global stature from exporting clean technology. They are developing global partnerships while the U.S. is abandoning them.
Some states are filling the vacuum left by the U.S. withdrawal from climate agreements. California, (the world’s fifth-largest economy), and Washington (the nation’s fourth-largest state economy) are leaders in climate change and clean energy technology. Both were represented at COP30 and are positively engaged in trade with China.
Figueres asks the key question: Can this new exponential curve of clean energy innovation outpace the exponential curve of climate impacts? China is demonstrating that it is possible, responding at both speed and scale.
Imagine what could be done if we were to commit the same level of resources and energy currently dedicated to AI development, toward clean renewable energy and combatting climate change? China is giving the world hope, and the world — minus one — is paying attention.
Paul Roberts is retired and lives in Everett. His career spans five decades in infrastructure, economics and environmental policy including former Chair of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency Board and advising Washington cities on climate change.
Eco-nomics
“Eco-nomics” is a series of articles exploring issues at the intersection of climate change and economics. Climate change (global warming) is caused by greenhouse gas emissions — carbon dioxide and methane chiefly — generated by human activities, primarily burning fossil fuels and agricultural practices. Global warming poses an existential threat to the planet. Successfully responding to this threat requires urgent actions — clear plans and actionable strategies — to rapidly reduce GHG emissions and adapt to climate-influenced events.
The Eco-nomics series focuses on mitigation and adaptation strategies viewed through the twin perspectives of science and economics. Find links to the series thus far at tinyurl.com/HeraldEco-nomics.
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