BEIJING: China’s pledge to help other countries with green energy while ceasing to build new coal-fired power projects abroad will help other developing nations in Asia reduce their dependence on coal and meet their commitment to cut carbon emissions, analysts said.
They said that China’s commitment to low-carbon growth is crucial as Southeast Asian governments prepare their climate commitments ahead of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26), which will be held from Oct 31 to Nov 12 in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Analysts hailed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech at the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in which he said that China will support other developing countries’ green and low-carbon energy projects. “If the global fight against coal was a novel, President Xi’s statement is the paragraph that opens the epilogue,” said Renato Redentor Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, a Manila-based climate policy think tank.
Constantino said Xi’s statement is a “monumental signal” to Southeast Asia’s governments to accelerate the region’s transition to renewable energy. “After decades of addiction to fossil fuels, it will certainly be challenging for governments in the region to phase out coal in a time frame that allows Southeast Asia’s power sector to establish irreversible pathways to modernization. But having China as a partner will be nothing less than a massive boost that can transform visions into reality,” he said.
Cesar Carlito Baclagon, regional finance campaigner for Asia of 350.org, an international environmental group, congratulated China on its “wise decision” to stop support for external coal investment.
“A push against coal power plants sends a clear message that China and the rest of Asia, especially member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, can play a leadership role in building a fossil-free future,” Baclagon said.
He expressed his hope that Xi’s statement will encourage the regional bloc “to push other wealthy countries to step up and get their financial institutions to do better” at the COP 26.
Tata Mustasya, climate and energy campaign strategist at Greenpeace Southeast Asia, welcomed China’s move, noting that financing from China and other wealthier countries is needed to build green energy infrastructure in Southeast Asia. “The key is energy transition, because 60 percent of global emissions come from the energy sector,” Mustasya said.
Prior to the pandemic, Southeast Asia was one of the world’s fastest growing regional economies, boosting energy demand. The International Energy Agency said that growing ownership of household appliances and air conditioners, as well as increasing consumption of goods and services, have increased electricity demand by more than 6 percent annually over the past 20 years.
– The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
