【By Observer Net, Ruan Jiaqi】

The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change opened in Belém, Brazil on November 6. The absence of the United States for the first time in 30 years initially raised concerns in the international community, but many participants felt relieved instead, as the Trump administration's anti-scientific hostility towards climate issues had long become an obstacle to global cooperation on global warming.

The U.S. Wall Street Journal reported on the 7th that as governments gathered in Belém for COP30, China is now at the center of negotiations like never before. The media pointed out that although developing countries are disappointed with the Western retreat on climate goals, China's transition to clean energy is helping maintain the integrity of the Paris Agreement.

"China is saving the Paris Agreement," the article analyzed under this title. After a decade since the agreement was signed, political support for the pact from the Western world has gradually weakened, but the global transition to clean energy continues to accelerate rapidly, largely driven by the rise of China as a superpower in clean technology. China's large-scale investment in manufacturing in this industry has significantly reduced the cost of clean energy, enabling it to compete with fossil fuels.

When the agreement was signed in 2015, few anticipated that Chinese clean technology manufacturers would achieve such an impressive scale so quickly, especially in areas such as solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles, which were not mainstream at the time.

Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of French oil and gas company Total Energy, said, "Over the past ten years, China has become a giant in the field of clean technology." The company is one of the largest investors in renewable energy globally.

"We hadn't truly anticipated this back in 2015, but the speed of China's development is astonishing," he added, "It's too late to cry now, and in a way, it's also good for the Earth."

On the evening of November 5, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, climate activists projected a banner featuring portraits of Brazilian President Lula and U.S. President Trump onto a building ahead of COP30, drawing the attention of passersby. IC Photo

As the pinnacle of global climate change cooperation, the Paris Agreement was adopted by over 190 countries, calling on nations to keep global temperature rise from the industrial revolution "well below" 2°C, and strive to limit it to around 1.5°C.

However, most analysts now believe that the 1.5°C temperature control target is difficult to achieve. Global emissions have continued to surge after the agreement was signed, and greenhouse gas concentrations have been rising since the mid-decade. Last year, the global average temperature was 1.55°C higher than pre-industrial levels, marking the first time the annual temperature exceeded 1.5°C, though this does not mean the agreement's threshold has been breached, but it highlights that the remaining room for adjustment is extremely limited.

Yet, some Western governments have not only failed to increase their climate action efforts, but have actually taken steps back: Europe and Canada have hesitated due to the high costs and unpopularity of climate measures; the U.S., meanwhile, withdrew from the Paris Agreement again after Trump took office.

Last month, the Trump administration forced the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations to delay the new regulations "Global Shipping Net Zero Framework" (NZF), which had already received support from the shipping industry and aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the sector, through bullying and coercion.

Nevertheless, analysts and investors in the U.S. and Europe still say that, thanks to significant cost reductions, onshore wind, solar, and battery storage projects remain competitive even with reduced subsidies.

The report points out that currently, Chinese manufacturers are supplying large quantities of solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles to the global market. The cost of solar power generation is now less than half of what analysts predicted a decade ago.

At the same time, China's large-scale deployment of wind and solar power facilities has significantly slowed down the growth of emissions in recent years. This year, coal and gas power generation in China decreased by 1.2%.

In the Chinese market, electric vehicle prices have fallen below those of fuel-powered cars, with low-cost models from Chinese giants like BYD forcing Western automakers to lower their prices. Additionally, the rapid expansion of battery production capacity for automotive and grid-level energy storage has significantly reduced the cost of these products.

For poorer countries, the significant reduction in clean energy costs is helping them offset the negative impact of the sharp decline in climate financing from wealthy nations.

Last year, at COP29 held in Baku, Azerbaijan, developed countries agreed to provide $30 billion annually starting from 2030 to developing countries. However, shortly after, one of the first actions taken by the Trump administration was to order the termination of all U.S. climate financing.

However, this impact has now been somewhat mitigated, as in many developing countries, the cheapest source of electricity is no longer coal, but rather a combination of solar panels and batteries from China.

Taking India as an example, companies are ordering thousands of megawatts of solar panel and battery capacity from Chinese manufacturers, without receiving a single cent of Western subsidy financing.

"In all regions, renewable energy technologies show a clear cost advantage compared to traditional power generation methods," said Ahmed Jameel Abdullah, a senior analyst at energy research company Wood Mackenzie. "The global energy transition is accelerating at an unprecedented pace."

Notably, during the opening ceremony of COP30 on the 6th, the media noted that electric vehicles used to transport delegates from various countries came from China.

The report believes that Brazil's choice of Chinese electric vehicles as the official transportation for leaders of multiple countries sends a clear signal: this Latin American country, in its process of transitioning to a development path and modernizing its economy, has turned its eyes to China; and in the context of the U.S. absence, this move also highlights the significant achievements of Chinese green technology in the region.

"Even without the political and technical leadership of the U.S., the world is moving forward," said Scott Kennedy, a senior advisor at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "Brazil's choice of these electric vehicles shows there are other options."

The changes brought by electric vehicles to Brazilian cities have already begun to emerge, including Belém, the host city of COP30 — a port city near the mouth of the Amazon River with a population of 1.3 million, which has often been plagued by traffic congestion.

The New York Times reported that on a workday before the summit began, the local streets remained heavily trafficked, but the amount of exhaust emissions was significantly reduced, with electric vehicles quietly driving along the roads, and officials traveling in a fleet of Chinese pickup trucks through the city, while electric buses transported passengers around the city.

"This technology is changing the entire world," said Kennedy, "and China has quickly entered this field."

This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer Net. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7570360838897418758/

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