In the corridors of the United Nations climate summit in Brazil, there had been hopes that China ¡ª a vocal advocate of emissions reduction and the powerhouse of clean energy technology ¡ª would act as a like-for-like replacement for lost U.S. leadership under President Donald Trump. In the final moments of the two-week COP30 talks, China hasn¡¯t stepped into that role.
Despite China¡¯s splashy presence in the Amazonian city of Belem, where its bustling national pavilion has drawn major crowds, and its efforts to shape the summit¡¯s agenda in advance, there¡¯s little evidence Beijing¡¯s overall approach has shifted into leadership mode. Instead, Chinese diplomats have used the global climate negotiations to oppose trade barriers that threaten the country¡¯s enormous exports of the solar, wind and battery technology. Representatives from Asia¡¯s top economy declined to step forward with an investment in a flagship rainforest conservation fund, limiting Brazil President Luiz In¨¢cio Lula da Silva¡¯s prospects of raising an initially planned $25 billion.
¡°We are not seeing very convincing signals that China is stepping up,¡± on traditional climate leadership, said Yao Zhe, a Beijing-based global policy advisor at Greenpeace East Asia, and who is attending the Belem talks.
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