Energy

China Wants To Renegotiate The Paris Climate Accord

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Tim Pearce Energy Reporter
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China is pushing to renegotiate key features of the Paris climate accord as United Nations climate talks skid to a standstill in Bonn, Germany, Thursday.

China’s main point of contention with the agreement is the idea that every country must commit to cutting carbon emissions. China claims that some countries are still developing and need financial and technological assistance to cut emissions or be allowed to follow the traditional path of a developing energy grid.

“The signals they have been giving here have not been really helpful and have on the contrary been quite negative,” Climate Action Network’s International Climate Policy Coordinator Ulriikka Aarnio said, according to BBC.

“There are a number of countries that need finance for mitigation, adaption and for impacts and China is part of that group and may want to support them, “Aarnio said. “It may be a negotiation tactic at this point.”

Poorer countries are also frustrated that developed countries seem reluctant to follow through on financial commitments and emissions reductions. Representatives will meet for another week in Bangkok in September to continue negotiating rules and procedures that will make the Paris agreement enforceable in 2020.

“We’ve seen some progress here on several issues on a technical level. Other discussions are really stuck because of sharp political differences,” Union of Concerned Scientists Director of Strategy and Policy Alden Meyer told Climate Home News.

U.N. representatives planned to have a “negotiating text” by the end of the week that serve as the basis for talks in Poland in December. Without the document, however, Poland negotiations may stall and deal a major blow to the landmark Paris agreement.

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