On Tuesday, at the United Nations General Assembly, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said with no specific details that it would not build new coal-fired power projects abroad, so as to add to pledges that are made for dealing with climate change.

“China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad,” Xi said in his pre-recorded video address at the annual UN gathering, in which he stressed China’s peaceful intentions in international relations.

China has been under heavy diplomatic pressure to put an end to its coal financing overseas because it could make it easier for the world to stay on course to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement to reduce carbon emissions.

Earlier this year, similar steps were taken by South Korea and Japan. That is why UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US climate envoy John Kerry have urged China to follow the lead of its Asian counterparts.

Kerry quickly welcomed Xi’s announcement, calling it a “great contribution” and a good beginning to efforts needed to achieve success against climate change.

Alok Sharma, the head of COP26, also hailed the announcement. “It is clear the writing is on the wall for coal power. I welcome President Xi’s commitment to stop building new coal projects abroad – a key topic of my discussions during my visit to China,” he said on Twitter.

Xi spoke after US President Joe Biden gave his first United Nations address. Biden mapped out a new era of vigorous competition without a new Cold War despite China’s ascendance.

In a measured speech, Xi made no direct mention of China’s often bitter rivalry with the United States, where the Biden administration has made policies on climate change mitigation a top priority and sought to cooperate with Beijing.

Xi repeated pledges from last year that China would achieve a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.Some experts have criticized those targets as not ambitious enough, though it allowed Beijing to claim moral high ground on the issue after then-US President Donald Trump, who had called climate change a “hoax”, had withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement.

China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, is still heavily reliant on coal for it’s domestic energy needs.

Hours earlier, without mentioning China by name, Biden said democracy would not be defeated by authoritarianism.

“The future will belong to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron hand,” Biden said.

“We all must call out and condemn the targeting and oppression of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, whether it occurs in Xinjiang or northern Ethiopia, or anywhere in the world,” he said, referring to the western Chinese region where authorities have created a network of internment camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. China denies allegations of abuses in Xinjiang.

Ties between the world’s two biggest economies have been languishing at their lowest point in decades over issues ranging from human rights to transparency over the origins of Covid-19.

Xi said there was a need to “reject the practice of forming small circles or zero-sum games,” a possible reference to the US-led Quad forum of Australia, India, Japan and the United States seen as a means of pushing back against China’s rise, which is due to meet at leader level in Washington on Friday.

China last week warned of an intensified arms race in the region after the United States, Britain and Australia announced a new Indo-Pacific security alliance, dubbed AUKUS, which will provide Australia with the technology and capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines.

Image source:  Politico