The recent COP27 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt ended with an agreement in which wealthier countries, including the United States, would pay into a “loss and damage” fund to support less wealthy nations that are being battered by the effects of climate change. Notably, however, the world’s second-largest economy, China, has been able to avoid having to pay into the fund. That’s a problem because China is the world’s biggest polluter.
China’s negative impact on global climate policy cannot be overstated. One need only look to Africa, where Chinese investment through the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, is driven by debt-trap diplomacy. A prime example of China’s recklessness can be found in Kenya, where recently revealed details of a 2014 secret railway contract show that the $4.7 billion railway project was over budget at Kenya’s expense. Judges ultimately declared the deal illegal for not being in alignment with Kenyan procurement laws. It is doubtful that concerns over environmental damage were ever considered in the structuring of this project.
DEMANDS FOR ‘CLIMATE REPARATIONS’ ARE LAUGHABLE
Top line: China has demonstrated time and time again that it wants all the trappings and benefits that come with being considered a superpower and none of the responsibilities. According to the World Wildlife Fund, “BRI corridors overlap with the range of 265 threatened species.” The Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to present BRI as environmentally responsible are disingenuous and a blatant example of “greenwashing.”
The world faces many urgent and long-term challenges. But confronting climate change is of utmost importance. International forums such as COP27 are essential in fostering dialogue and cooperation toward a better future. It will be a terrible shame if China is able to skirt its international responsibilities at the very moment that the world’s biggest polluter needs to change its ways. The world must demand that China pay into the climate support fund.
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Kelsey Callahan is the senior director for energy policy at the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy.
