China’s Uneven Cli mate Leadership: Domestic Policy and International Influence in the P ost-Paris Era
Many climate policies do not make Ch ina a self-evident climate leader, says climate researcher Xiaoran Li in her thesis.
“China plays a major role in tacklin g climate change. The country is pursuing more and more climate polic y and is internationally influential, including through the productio n of clean technology. Yet it is unclear how powerful that policy is and when other countries actually see China as a climate leader.
< p>“I therefore investigated how China's climate policy has develope d since the Paris Climate Agreement, how strong the policy is in diff erent sectors and in what ways China exerts international influence. The central question is why a country can be indispensable for the gl obal energy transition at the same time and yet not be an unambiguous climate leader.”“More climate policy does not automatically mean stronger climate policy. M y analysis of 358 national Chinese policies showed that the strength and coherence of the policies vary from sector to sector.
“Ch ina's leadership is also unevenly distributed internationally. The co untry has a lot of influence through its industry, clean technology a nd climate diplomacy, but is not recognized as a leader in all areas. Especially where credible domestic results, open knowledge sharing o r recognition by other countries are important, that leadership is le ss self-evident. China's central role in climate action cannot theref ore be summed up with a single label.”
More information on th e thesis.
DESCRIPTION: China’s Uneven Climate Leadership: Domestic Policy and International Influence in the Post-Paris Era Many climate po licies do not make China a self-evident climate leader, says climate researcher Xiaoran Li in her thesis.“China plays a major r ole in tackling climate change. The country is pursuing more and more climate policy and is internationally influential, including through the production of clean technology. Yet it is unclear how powerful t hat policy is and when other countries actually see China as a climat e leader.“I therefore investigated how China's climate policy has d eveloped since the Paris Climate Agreement, how strong the policy is in different sectors and in what ways China exerts international infl uence. The central question is why a country can be indispensable for the global energy transition at the same time and yet not be an unam biguous climate leader.”