{"id":60159749,"date":"2026-11-12T18:54:21","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T18:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?post_type=news_digest&p=60159749"},"modified":"2026-11-12T18:54:29","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T18:54:29","slug":"how-might-china-approach-climate-leadership-at-cop31","status":"publish","type":"news_digest","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/how-might-china-approach-climate-leadership-at-cop31\/","title":{"rendered":"How might China approach climate leadership at COP31?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

China adopted its 15th Five-Year Plan<\/a> in March and pledged to \u201cactively participate in and lead global climate governance\u201d. With the US absent from COP once again, this year\u2019s summit could offer an indication of whether Beijing is ready to put those words into action, the Guardian notes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few indicators offer clues about China\u2019s approach to climate diplomacy and leadership. One is China\u2019s position on the global electrification initiative of COP31 co-president T\u00fcrkiye. The host has proposed<\/a> a \u201c35 by 35\u201d initiative to increase the share of final energy demand met by electricity globally to 35% by 2035.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s own domestic target is 35% by 2030. But when asked if it supports the T\u00fcrkiye initiative, Li Gao, China\u2019s vice minister of ecology and environment, said<\/a> that while China supports greater electrification as it helps promote a green transition, it urged T\u00fcrkiye to \u201cfully consider the differences in national circumstances, seek the greatest common ground, and strive for the broadest support\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kate Logan, director of the Asia Society Policy Institute\u2019s China Climate Hub, told the Guardian<\/a> that China remained ambivalent because it is both wary of external goals set by others and must also balance the different interests of its Global South partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noticeably, there has been no high-profile climate announcement from China this year. Months before last year\u2019s COP30, the country announced<\/a> its first-ever absolute greenhouse gas reduction target. At COP29, vice premier Ding Xuexiang stated<\/a> China had provided and mobilised more than RMB 177 billion (USD 26.5 billion) in climate finance for other developing countries since 2016. This was the first time a Chinese official referred to such finance for developing countries using language applied to developed countries, Dialogue Earth reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, China is calling for a focus on implementation. Li Gao said COP31 should spotlight what he described as inadequate emissions reductions and financial support from developed countries, as well as discuss trade and policy measures that could undermine collective climate action, reported<\/a> China.org.cn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s definition of climate leadership is \u201cvery different\u201d from that of the west, Yao Zhe, global policy advisor at Greenpeace East Asia, told Radio France Internationale<\/a>. For instance, China sees room \u2013 and a need \u2013 to lead on formulating climate-related trade rules. This vision differs from the increasing financial contributions or deeper emissions cuts that Western countries might expect, Yao notes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Jennifer Morgan\u2019s recent Dialogue Earth essay<\/a> on China\u2019s leadership challenges in the next chapter of its climate diplomacy<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recent statements from Chinese officials focusing on implementation and global targets offer hints as to how China could lead climate diplomacy <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":60006649,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_has_post_settings":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[761],"tags":[50041544,569,580],"country":[20000110],"digest-collection":[50039911],"class_list":["post-60159749","news_digest","type-news_digest","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-climate-diplomacy","tag-negotiations","tag-policy","country-china"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow might China approach climate leadership at COP31? | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recent statements from Chinese officials focusing on implementation and global targets offer hints as to how China could lead climate diplomacy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/how-might-china-approach-climate-leadership-at-cop31\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How might China approach climate leadership at COP31?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recent statements from Chinese officials focusing on implementation and global targets offer hints as to how China could lead climate diplomacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/how-might-china-approach-climate-leadership-at-cop31\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-11-12T18:54:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/China-news-digest_THUMBNAIL_Alamy_2EKJEG3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"784\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/how-might-china-approach-climate-leadership-at-cop31\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/digest\/how-might-china-approach-climate-leadership-at-cop31\/\",\"name\":\"How might China approach climate leadership at COP31? 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