Understanding China's Changing Rhetoric on Climate Change

An aerial photo taken by a drone taken on April 8, 2024 shows an industrial park of crop and vegetable plantations planted in turn in Miyi County, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Credit: Xinhua – Photo: 2024

By Gu Bin Joyce*

SINGAPORE | April 13, 2024 (IDN | East Asia Forum) China, under President Xi Jinping, has demonstrated a crucial shift in its rhetoric on climate change. Unlike his predecessors, who emphasized climate equity and China's identity as a developing country, Xi's rhetoric positions China as a global leader on climate change. Despite China's positioning, its ambivalence regarding actions to reduce carbon emissions hinders the effectiveness of this international identity construction. But ambitious rhetoric serves as national propaganda.

For a long time, China has approached climate change through a climate equity lens to justify its limited obligations, defining itself as the largest developing country. The leaders stressed that it was unfair that China assume similar obligations to developed countries, because they have been the innocent victims of these developed countries' historically significant carbon emissions.

Even after becoming the largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the second-largest economy during the first decade of the 2000s, Chinese leaders continued to use climate equity as justification for sticking to their voluntary commitment. non-negotiable. During the Copenhagen Conference, China has categorically refused to be bound by additional international obligations. Before Xi, China firmly rejected international leadership on climate and advocated for developed countries to assume leadership as well as the costs of a cooperative solution.

When Xi took power in 2012, China showed remarkable interest and willingness to engage in global governance, particularly regarding climate change. Since his first overseas visit as president, Xi has always emphasized that China will proactively undertake more international responsibilities. This commitment was quickly followed by the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative.

A leader in climate governance

Viewing climate change as a global threat, Xi called for international cooperation and promised to make new contributions, showing China's willingness to participate in global climate responses. At Paris Conference, he stressed that China has always been an active participant in climate governance and has the sincerity and determination to increase its contributions. To promote the image of a responsible power, in September 2015 he announced a 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) South-South Cooperation Fund on Climate Change.

The United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in 2017 gave China the opportunity to present itself as a leader and responsible player in climate governance. Xi stressed that China will firmly support the Paris Agreement and promised that China aimed to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, and declared an end to the construction of new coal power projects overseas. While these ambitious commitments have helped build a positive image of China, they have at the same time increased international expectations and observations.

Ambiente on the phasing out of fossil fuels

But Beijing's ambitious rhetoric has not fully translated into international recognition. China remains ambivalent about phasing out fossil fuels, and this ambivalence highlights its biggest energy security concerns. After experiencing severe energy shortages in recent years, Xi said in 2022 China's efforts to cap and reduce carbon emissions to zero you should be carefuland China will not stop burning fossil fuels until it is convinced that clean energy can reliably replace them.

Even if the share of coal, the main source of energy used for decades, has decreased, from 63.8 percent in 2015 to 56.2 percent in 2022, domestic coal production and coal imports continued to increase. Furthermore, China has experienced a record crude oil imports in 2023, the first year of recovery from the pandemic. Given its ambivalence toward fossil fuels, doubts are emerging about China's ability to meet its climate commitments.

China's evolving rhetoric not only aims to communicate its aspirations to the world, but also targets domestic audiences. It plays a crucial role in building internal identity by conveying the message that the government is actively involved in responsible climate action, while strengthening the legitimacy of the Communist Party. In his report to the National Party Congress in 2017, Xi suggested that if Mao Zedong made China independent and Deng Xiaoping made it prosperous, he would succeed. still strong.

A global Chinese dream

Xi's definition of strong is not limited to a single aspect, but encompasses an overall Chinese dream, including a strong China in global governance. Xi aimed to distinguish Chinese leadership from traditional Western paradigms. At the 20th Party Congress, he concluded that China has made great progress in the past ten years in ecological civilization and will make steady contributions as a country.responsible great power.

In the face of revived nationalism, the domestic public is largely convinced that China is one of the leading forces in climate governance. For example, Chinese civil societies are shifting from domestic political advocacy on climate change to highlighting China's contributions to climate action on the international stage. Some NGOs, such as Global Environmental Institutealso engages in international cooperation, actively promoting Chinese experience to other developing countries.

While China has adopted a proactive rhetoric positioning itself as a global leader in climate governance, the effectiveness of this international identity construction is hampered by the gaps between rhetoric and action. Yet growing national recognition suggests that changing narratives serve a more essential function than that of national propaganda. It remains to be seen how the international community and domestic audiences will perceive and respond to China's changing narrative.

*Gu Bin Joyce studies international relations at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. [IDN-InDepthNews]

Original link: https://eastasiaforum.org/2024/04/05/understanding-chinas-changing-climate-change-rhetoric/

Photo: An aerial photo taken by a drone taken on April 8, 2024 shows an industrial park of crop and vegetable plantations planted in turn in Miyi County, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Credit: Xinhua

IDN is the flagship agency of the non-profit association International Press Union.