Official: China hopes US climate collaboration will continue whoever wins the election

A senior official in the Chinese government said that China hoped the United States would be able continue to work with other countries to combat climate change regardless of the results of the presidential elections next week.

The 2015 Paris Agreement was made possible by the cooperation between China and the United States. They are the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

The re-election by Donald Trump of the former president could bring an end to bilateral climate engagement, as Trump is likely to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement a second.

"We hope the U.S. will continue to maintain its consistency and stability in climate policy and that it will work with other countries around the world," said Xia Yingxian during a press briefing. She is the director general of China's climate office.

Xia, who is a reporter, told reporters that he hoped that the COP29 climate talks, which will begin in Baku in Azerbaijan within 10 days, would send a message to all participants, namely, "multilateralism can never be reversed, and international cooperation cannot be ignored." In order to meet their obligations under Paris Agreement, all countries are required to submit more ambitious "nationally defined contributions" (NDCs), by the end of February 2019. Washington has pushed Beijing to commit to a 30% reduction in emissions by 2035. However, experts warn that the U.S. influence on climate diplomacy will be significantly diminished if Trump is elected next week.

Xia said reporters that China would "firmly implement" its NDCs and that new targets had been proposed for 2035. He did not provide any additional details. Researchers say that while China has committed to reaching a carbon dioxide peak by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2060 it can do more. CO2 emissions are already declining.

Wen Hua is vice-director at the National Development and Reform Commission's environmental protection office. He warned that despite China having "made significant progress", the energy demand continues to rise and the green trade barriers that are preventing progress.

He said at the Friday briefing that "it must be noted that the carbon peaking goals and the carbon neutrality objectives require arduous effort."

Last month, a powerful Chinese think tank urged the government to set an absolute target for reducing carbon emissions.

The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development also recommended that the government double total wind and Solar capacity to 2,400 Gigawatts by 2030. Reporting by Colleen Stanway and David Stanway, Editing by Sharon Singleton

(source: Reuters)