How can China and California tout clean energy but still dirty their hands with fossil fuels?

Michelle Chan says that as officials from California and China gather to talk about clean, renewable energy, both have continued to exploit unsafe fossil fuels, within and beyond their borders

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California governor Jerry Brown shakes hands with China's Science and Technology Minister Wan Gang after signing a memorandum of understanding of Clean Technology in Beijing in June 2017. Photo: AP

Michelle Chan

Michelle Chan is vice-president of programs for Friends of the Earth

Published: 1:00pm, 7 Sep 2018Updated: 5:52pm, 7 Sep 2018

This month, thousands of companies, scientists, activists and government officials will descend on California to participate in the Global Climate Action Summit. Initiated by California governor Jerry Brown, it aims to “to prevent dangerous climate change”. But the truth is that climate change is already here, and the world is still scrambling to find long-term solutions.

One of the event’s prominent co-chairs is Xie Zhenua, China’s top climate negotiator. Since US President Donald Trump’s administration remains detached from the reality and urgency of climate change, China and California are increasingly seen as the planet’s best hope to lead and deliver solutions.

But are they? Both have indeed made strides towards addressing climate issues. China is phasing out domestic coal use and is the world’s leading manufacturer of solar panels. California requires that 33 per cent of the state’s retail electricity be generated by renewables by 2020. As two of the largest economies of the world by size, China and California do have the potential to be climate leaders.

However, their biggest barrier may be their continued support of the fossil fuel industry, which casts a long, dark shadow over these developments and calls into question the integrity of China and California’s environmental commitments.

For instance, China has successfully reduced its domestic coal consumption, but this shift has in turn propelled the ailing Chinese coal industry to aggressively expand overseas and put other countries on a coal-heavy development path. Chinese firms are building six new coal plants in Vietnam and, in Bangladesh, Chinese developers and financiers are involved in the construction of 11 new coal plants.

Workers are seen at China Resources Gas’ liquefied natural gas storage facility in Xiangyang, Hubei province, on July 14. China is projected to become the world’s leading importer of natural gas in 2019. Photo: Reuters

How can China cut pollution and meet its energy needs?