China’s fourth plenum green agenda: "China is the global leader"

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe interviewed Kingsmill Bond, Energy Strategist for Ember

Transcript

00:00Let's talk now to Kingsmill Bond, an energy strategist at the think tank Ember.

00:06Kingsmill, welcome back, good to see you.

00:07So this fourth plenum discussing the 15th five-year plan,

00:12I mean, just from an outside perspective,

00:14how significant are these plans historically in shaping China's green goals?

00:21Well, they are, of course, vital, as your correspondent, Gem, just pointed out.

00:25The last one was the prelude to an absolutely extraordinary surge in Chinese electrotech deployment.

00:32So, yeah, we're watching it with bated breath.

00:35President Xi recently announcing China's first absolute emissions reduction target,

00:42cutting greenhouse gases by between 7% and 10% by the year 2035.

00:47Just how meaningful is that?

00:50So this is extremely significant because OECD greenhouse gas production has been falling, actually, since 2008.

01:01China is the pivot nation in the global system.

01:04So as soon as China goes from peak to decline, which is the implication, clearly, of President Xi's statements,

01:10it's a very significant moment.

01:11The other point to be made, generally, is that China tends to exceed, unlike most countries,

01:16China tends to exceed its targets.

01:17So, in fact, we think that, as so often in this transition,

01:22China is likely to far exceed the targets that are being set.

01:26We're seeing the United States rolling back on climate commitments.

01:31I mean, does China see an opportunity to position itself as the global leader on climate?

01:39Well, China is the global leader in the deployment of the core solutions to solve the climate problem.

01:48So it is de facto the global leader.

01:50It produces 90% of the technology.

01:52And as a number of people have pointed out,

01:54the Chinese $200 billion of investment in FDI, in electrotech,

02:01in the emerging markets and in other countries, is the same size as U.S. Marshall Plan.

02:07So this is a massive commitment of China to deploy this technology all across the world.

02:12It's very significant.

02:14And it is the story about the wider benefits, isn't it?

02:17This isn't just a China story.

02:20Yeah, it's a global story.

02:22So what China is doing is two things.

02:23It's both sort of showing what can be done,

02:26how you can deploy solar and wind,

02:28how you can electrify your end demand,

02:32where China is a definitely inspirational leader.

02:35And it's also providing the technology very, very cheaply,

02:39so that other countries, notably Pakistan, most famously,

02:42but also actually increasingly and recently,

02:44sub-Saharan Africa is deploying Chinese solar panels.

02:46And we're now seeing this electric vehicle market,

02:49where China has gone from nowhere six years ago

02:52to be the leader in global car exports.

02:54And it's now Chinese EVs are now pouring into the emerging markets

02:58with market share of electric vehicles now reaching 70%, 80%

03:01in some of these jurisdictions.

03:03So it is a real opportunity for other countries to leapfrog

03:06to a superior energy system.

03:09And it's also worth saying that for these countries,

03:11these energy technologies are harnessing domestic sunshine

03:14and domestic wind and domestic electrification.

03:17So it is actually, for these countries,

03:20a way to escape fossil fuel dependency as well.

03:23Kingsmill, good to see you.

03:24Thanks so much for coming back on the programme.

03:26Kingsmill Bond, the energy strategist,

03:28at the think tank Ember.

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