World Climate Conference: China and the US ignore the elephant in the room Hamas and Israel end negotiations on the release of hostages ++ Israel wants buffer zone

At the World Climate Conference in Dubai, the planet’s two biggest climate sinners, China and the US, spoke out in more detail for the first time. The two world powers, otherwise at odds on many issues, agreed to ignore the proverbial elephant in the room: referring to the exit from oil, gas and coal, which dozens of states and hundreds of environmental organizations have called for. US Vice President Kamala Harris made no mention of the issue in her speech to the plenary on Saturday. And also in the speech of the Chinese Vice Prime Minister the night before: thundering silence.

This is no wonder. For example, the US is now the largest oil producer in the world and at the same time the largest oil consumer. And the gigantic empire of China, which emits almost a third of all greenhouse gases worldwide, wants to be dependent on climate-damaging coal in the coming decades and operate climate neutrally by 2060 at the earliest.

US Vice President: Inaction will harm billions of people

Harris first praised her government’s climate policies and then warned that humanity has reached a pivotal moment as the climate crisis worsens. “Our collective actions – or worse, our inaction – will impact billions of people for decades to come.” Harris agreed to visit Dubai at short notice after her boss, US President Joe Biden, was criticized for his absence this year.

Your own government is actually being called to action: After China, the US emits the most climate-damaging greenhouse gases in the world, mainly CO2 and methane. And: at 14 tons, CO2 emissions per capita are almost twice as high as in China. The U.S. government’s annual climate report states that greenhouse gas emissions are declining, but that this is not enough to meet national and international climate commitments and goals. The bar is relatively high: the US wants to generate electricity without CO2 emissions by 2035 and reduce its emissions to net zero by 2050 at the latest.

After all: On Saturday, US Climate Representative John Kerry announced that the US would join an alliance of states to phase out coal. This is absolutely necessary to remain within reach of the goal agreed in Paris in 2015 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels if possible. The end date would be no later than 2035 – which experts consider insufficient.

Climate crisis in real time – also in North America

The climate crisis is now playing out in real time in the US as the country has been repeatedly hit by extreme weather events in recent years – including record heat, drought, intense tropical storms, torrential rains and devastating wildfires. Metropolises such as New York and Washington disappeared in dense orange smoke from the summer forest fires in Canada.

And China? In his speech, Vice Prime Minister Ding Xuexiang firstly emphasized in detail that China is a pioneer when it comes to the energy transition. “We are the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of electric cars,” he reported. Half of all electric cars worldwide are driven in China. And now only half of the energy comes from fossil sources. 50 percent of the world’s wind turbines come from China, and 80 percent of all solar energy systems.

There have indeed been some positive developments recently. In mid-November, an analysis by the Helsinki-based Center for Energy Research and Clean Air (CREA) caused a stir. According to the calculations, greenhouse gas emissions in China could decrease ‘structurally’ as early as next year. Emissions will continue to rise in 2023. At the same time, however, wind and solar energy have expanded at an unprecedented pace.

Officially, the giant Chinese empire, home to half of the world’s coal-fired power stations, only wants to gradually reduce its emissions from 2030 – which experts say is incompatible with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. If the renewable energy boom continues, things could move much faster.

The greatest growth has occurred in solar energy, where an installed capacity of around 210 gigawatts is expected by 2023, according to CREA. This means that in just one year, China has created twice as much solar energy capacity as the US as a whole, writes CREA analyst Lauri Myllyvirta.

New approaches give rise to hope

A major success in the preparation for COP28 was that, after a summit meeting in the US, Washington and Beijing now want to work together again on climate protection. Both governments recently supported the G20 countries’ commitment to triple renewable energy by 2030 compared to 2020. However, the major powers had already agreed to cooperation once, in Glasgow in 2021, with much fanfare, but that was due to the deterioration of relations come to a standstill again. (sda/dpa)