By Nick Pope
Chinese climate envoy Xie Zenhua said Thursday that the complete elimination of fossil fuels is an “unrealistic” goal, Reuters reported on Friday.
His comments at a forum of ambassadors in China follow multiple attempts by the Biden administration to engage with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with climate change diplomacy, as well as escalating geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington. Zenhua, who will represent China at the upcoming United Nations climate summit in November, asserted that fossil fuels should continue to play a crucial role in the world’s ability to maintain energy security, according to Reuters.
“It is unrealistic to completely phase out fossil fuel energy,” Zenhua said during his speech, according to Reuters. While the CCP has not fully embraced diplomatic cooperation with American counterparts, like Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, Zenhua noted that he welcomes efforts of wealthy countries to establish a $100 billion annual fund to help developing nations adjust to climate change, but that those funding levels are “only a drop in the bucket.”
In his address, Zenhua also indirectly criticized U.S. restrictions on Chinese solar panels, saying that protectionist trade policies could spike solar panel prices by 25% and restrict the green energy transition globally, according to Reuters. He urged other nations to not “politicize” collaboration on green energy.
China was by far the world’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide in 2022, more than doubling the 4.4 billion tons generated in the U.S., according to Selectra Climate Consulting. While the Biden administration has imposed a slew of climate policies that make coal plants “too expensive” to build, China permitted an average of two new coal plants per week in 2022, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Neither the White House nor the State Department responded immediately to requests for comment.
