Countries like China should contribute more to compensation payments for countries affected by climate-related catastrophic events, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze said on Friday on Bayerischer Rundfunk.
China accounts for at least 28% of global greenhouse gas emissions. As a direct consequence, they must also contribute to restoring the damage, according to Schulze in an interview with Bayerischer Rundfunk.
They always try to hide behind the false pretense of being a developing country. However, they are no longer considered a developing country.
Chinese coal produces CO2
Carbon dioxide emissions from China-invested power coal plants abroad are now estimated to be 245 million tonnes per year. They roughly pollute the same as annual energy-related CO2 emissions from the whole of Spain or Thailand, shows new research released on Tuesday.
According to the research of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center (GDPC), Chinese companies and government-run investment banks have now financed a total of 171.6 GW of overseas power generation capacity. It is a total of 648 plants in 92 countries, with 113.5 GW already operational.
Approximately half of that total capacity is related to fossil fuels, and the pipeline of projects. In the case of finishing all those projects, it could add another 100 million tonnes of annual CO2 emissions. These are the results of the GDPC research presented by Cecilia Springer, a researcher at the center.
The research shows that China’s overseas power portfolio still dominates coal and large-scale hydropower. That indicates that China can do more to support green and low-carbon energy in developing countries, particularly wind and solar power.
COP27’s final agreement depends on od who’s paying the compensation
On Friday, climate negotiators were considering a late-night European Union proposal aimed at breaking a stubborn impossible situation over financing for countries hit by climate-related catastrophic events and helping to bring this year’s United Nations climate summit in Egypt closer to a final agreement.
The EU proposal would be to establish and maintain a special fund to cover loss and damage in the most vulnerable countries, but it would be funded by a “wide donor base.”
The EU offer directly contradicts a proposal by rapidly developing countries and China to make the fund available to all developing countries. That proposal used a United Nations definition, which would have actually allowed China to receive funds rather than help contribute to them.
I also do not believe that this can be concluded today, but that we still require an extension, Schulze said of ongoing negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh on mandatory compensation payments.