Who Thinks China’s Not an Economic Powerhouse? China
One of the hottest topics at the upcoming global climate conference is whether China should still be considered “developing.”
The China-backed Cauchari solar plant in Argentina.
Source: Estebran/Shutterstock
If China can go to the moon, asked the European Union’s climate commissioner in September, why isn’t it paying more toward climate action? Wopke Hoekstra’s quip laid bare a point of contention that will loom over November’s United Nations climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan: How can the world’s second-largest economy be simultaneously “developed”—at the cutting edge of science and technology—yet still be officially classed as “developing”—allowed concessions on emissions and access to global funds?
China likes to think of itself as a hybrid superpower, a compromise description that serves its diplomatic goals. In climate finance, though, the position is untenable. If a nation is considered developed, it’s expected to pay into a $100 billion-a-year UN pot. For the US, this meant an estimated $9.5 billion in 2023. Developing nations not only have no such obligation but can also use the money to mitigate the impact of hotter summers and more frequent storms.