President of COP30 says that China may need to take a more active role in climate change.

Andre Aranha Correa do Lago, the COP30 president-designate, said that China plays a crucial role in combating climate change. Other countries may also look to China for leadership in this field.

Correa do Lago, when asked about China's role in climate change as the United States pulls back from its efforts, said that China has played a major part in providing solutions since a number of years.

He told reporters at an online briefing by the Oxford Climate Journalism Network that "we have to work more closely with China, because China is able to provide some fantastic solutions to the fight against global warming."

Since Donald Trump took office last month, he has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, clawed American global climate financing back and severed international partnerships on climate.

Last week, it was reported that Trump had also pulled out the U.S. from key U.N. assessments on climate change.

Correa do Lago praised China for its solar panel initiative. After years of subsidies the world's biggest solar panel manufacturer has increased production capacity, keeping prices low.

"They do their own thing and their own things benefit the rest of the globe." He said that reducing the price of solar panels was one of the best policies to promote renewable energy in developing nations. (Reporting and editing by Alexandra Hudson, Hugh Lawson, Shi Bu. Additional reporting by Liz Lee.

(source: Reuters)