German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Chinese President, Xi Xinping and French President, Emmanuel Macron, are to meet for online talks on efforts to tackle climate change on Friday.
Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy for climate, John Kerry, is in Shanghai for a meeting with his counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, to prepare an upcoming summit on April 22, and 23, called by U.S. President, Joe Biden.
The U.S. and China are the world’s largest economies and are also among the most prolific emitters of carbon dioxide.
In order to stick to its climate goals, China would have to shut off most of its coal power plants by the end of this decade and replace them with wind and solar energy, according to a study by research group Transitionzero.
China would have to reduce the coal intensity of its energy production by half by 2030. The transition to clean energy would, however, save costs of 1.6 billion dollars in the long term, according to the study.
So far, China has committed to become carbon neutral before 2060, with emissions reaching a peak before 2030. Around 60 per cent of energy in China is powered by coal.
