The Chinese delegation at the 28^th Conference of the Parties on Climate (COP28) in Dubai, headed by top exponents of the Ministry for Environment and Ecology and by executive vice-premier Ding Xuexiang, proved to be a key player in a possible fuel phase-out. Still, China remained mostly discreet about its intentions in practice, often playing the card of “not opposing” instead of actively promoting green transition.

Overall, climate change has recently moved from the periphery to the centre stage of international geopolitics. Initially, China’s government was mired in climate change denial. Yet, Beijing eventually changed its mind and began to engage in bilateral agreements with Washington and Europe via the United Nations. A striking feature of Chinese pressures on the international community in climate change talks is the concept of “sustainable development”, linked to the firm belief that European countries and the United States carry more responsibilities towards climate change due to their past – and undisturbed – industrialisation. Lately, international cooperation on these matters had slowed down mainly due to the Trump administration, but China has continued to engage in global partnership to fight pollution (via its role in the G77 group) and has recently reopened climate talks with President Biden. Moreover, the fight against climate change has become a matter of national security, since China is not only the biggest polluter in the world but also the most affected country, as the Chinese National Development Research Centre reports.

Ding Xuexiang’s opening remarks at the World Climate Action Summit at the start of COP28, recorded by Carbon Brief, did not deviate from established positions: Xuexiang referred to multilateralism, support for developing countries, the green transition, and low-carbon usage of traditional energies. When talking about the Chinese pavilion at COP28, Professor Alex Wang, co-director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the University of California, told Carbon Brief that in his view “there’s more information available, there’s more societal involvement than ever before…That may be strategic, but it does also reflect genuine changes on the ground [in China].” Meanwhile, Yuan Ying, chief Chinese representative at Greenpeace East Asia, said that the final statement at the COP28 “will undoubtedly further boost China’s already booming renewable energy sector, accelerate the substitution of coal power and achieve the country’s target of peaking emissions from its power sector by 2025 and society as a whole as early as possible by 2030”, as Carbon Brief reports.

A question frequently asked to China COP28 is why, given China’s leading role in clean technology deployment, did it not sign the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge (“the Pledge”). The Pledge is a voluntary declaration that commits countries to triple renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 GW by 2030 and double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements from around 2% to over 4% every year until 2030. Still, China’s reluctance is based on its skepticism of the accountability of these side deals, as Asia Society reports, as well as many unclear caveats of the deal itself. Overall, the slowdown of Chinese economic growth also raises some concerns over its energy efficiency improvement.

In conclusion, China’s position at COP28 was occasionally ambivalent but coherent. Preference was given to broad statements without clear objectives, while many countries were pushing for further implementation of the Paris agreement. However, moving away from mainstream Western narratives that depict China as the most irresponsible country in the world is of fundamental importance. Indeed, while China is the biggest carbon emitter overall, the average American is responsible for nearly twice as much climate pollution as the average person in China. Acknowledging China’s growing efforts in the fight against climate change would be among the first steps to engage in broader global partnerships and to promote effective monitoring mechanisms.