Agence France-Presse, Hong Kong,\u00a009 August, 2017<\/p>\n
Erik Solheim says Beijing has a vital role as the world moves from coal to renewable energy<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s biggest polluter China has a \u201cbig job\u201d ahead of it in the global fight against climate change, the UN\u2019s environment chief said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Since US President Donald Trump\u2019s decision in June to quit the Paris agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Beijing has proclaimed its willingness to stick to the pact.<\/p>\n
Analysts say the US move gives China an opportunity to establish its credibility and strengthen its diplomatic clout ahead of future negotiations.<\/p>\n
US officially pulls out of UN\u2019s Paris climate deal<\/a><\/p>\n Beijing has repeatedly pledged to reduce its reliance on carbon-belching coal as it seeks to clear the toxic smog from its cities.<\/p>\n But it has also invested heavily in coal projects abroad as part of its belt and road infrastructure initiative, prompting accusations it is exporting its pollution to poorer and less developed countries.<\/p>\n Erik Solheim, head of the UN Environment Programme, said the world was in a \u201ctransformative phase\u201d from coal to renewable energy, and Beijing had a vital role to play.<\/p>\n As well as its number one position as a source of pollution, China is also the world\u2019s biggest investor in renewable energy such as solar and wind power.<\/p>\n Its coal consumption has fallen for the past three years, and earlier this year it reportedly cancelled more than 100 coal power projects.<\/p>\n South Asia may be too hot to live in by 2100 due to climate change: scientists<\/a><\/p>\n But China still relies on the fuel for 62 per cent of its primary energy mix.<\/p>\n \u201cChina has a very big job ahead of it to transform fundamentally from coal into these very promising new technologies,\u201d Solheim said.<\/p>\n German environmental group Urgewald estimates that around 250 Chinese companies are involved in nearly half the 1,600 new coal power projects planned or being built worldwide, including in countries such as Pakistan and Egypt which currently burn almost no coal.<\/p>\n Solheim warned that \u201clocking yourself into this old-fashioned technology is very dangerous\u201d, as it would make them heavily dependent on fossil fuel for decades with serious environmental and health risks.<\/p>\n Trump \u201cclearly made a mistake\u201d in withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, said Solheim, who was in Seoul for meetings with South Korean officials and businesses.<\/p>\n But the consequences of Trump\u2019s decision were \u201climited\u201d, Solheim insisted, adding it had only \u201cenergised the entire environment community\u201d including America\u2019s big businesses such as Apple, Google and Microsoft.<\/p>\n \u201cThey do that for their customers and for the environment. They don\u2019t do it for the White House,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n