Climate: United States, China and Russia settle accounts at COP26

COP 26 turns to “Settlement of accounts at OK Corral” between three of the largest CO emitting countries₂ of the planet that are China, the United States and to a lesser extent Russia. Beijing and Moscow, whose highest dignitaries, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, did not make the trip to Glasgow, unlike most heads of state and government on the planet, reacted strongly to the sermon on Wednesday. had addressed Joe Biden the day before.

“Actions speak louder than words,” Beijing replied on Wednesday through Chinese diplomacy spokesman Wang Wenbin. On a hard line, he described as “empty words” the remarks made by the head of the White House. The latter, within the framework of the press conference which closed his trip to Glasgow, had qualified as “serious error” the fact that Xi Jinping, the president of the People’s Republic of China, did not go to the opening of this 26th international climate conference.

“How can you do that and claim any kind of leadership? »The successor of Donald Trump moved. Enough to further exacerbate the rivalry between the two superpowers on many issues other than the climate, in particular that of Taiwan and Beijing’s hegemonic push in the China Sea, not to mention the many trade disputes that poison relations. of these two countries.

Leadership quarrel

Faced with American accusations of passivity, the Chinese representative underlined his country’s “concrete” commitments against global warming. China, the world’s largest polluter, is the one that invests the most in clean energy. Beijing aims to peak its CO emissions₂ in 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality in 2060.

But these two objectives, formalized last week by the Chinese authorities at the United Nations, are notoriously insufficient to hope to limit by the end of the century warming to 1.5 degrees, the course to be taken which appears in the Agreement. of Paris concluded in 2015. And it is empty-handed that the representatives of the People’s Republic came to participate in the negotiations in Glasgow. Developing countries, of which China still considers to be part, face “practical problems”, argued Wednesday Wang Wenbin, stressing in particular a “lack of adapted technologies”, at the risk of passing his remarks for an admission of Beijing’s weakness.

In fact, Xi Jinping contented himself with a written message, posted on the conference website, no intervention by videoconference or video message being planned for the absent heads of state and government. This defection should cost him dearly, to hear Joe Biden. Xi Jinping has lost “an opportunity to influence people around the world,” he claimed.

Badly accepted remonstrances

The United States, which had withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, consider that it has come back in force by the scale of the ambitions they display. Washington has committed to reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 and is aiming for carbon neutrality in 2050. This is indeed more engaging than what Beijing has promised. But it is still necessary to make these objectives credible, which is not certain given the current difficulties of Joe Biden. The American head of state, who has just suffered a serious electoral setback, has the greatest difficulties in having his two massive investment plans approved by the American Congress.

The White House boss’s remonstrances were not aimed solely at China. “It’s the same for Vladimir Putin,” continued Joe Biden. “We do not agree,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday, calling Russia’s actions against global warming “coherent, thoughtful and serious”.

It prevents. Russia and China are not among the hundred or so countries that signed a flagship agreement reached on Tuesday to contain methane emissions. An absence that poses a problem when we know that it is the second gas responsible for global warming after carbon dioxide.

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