HONG KONG, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) — Trade barriers set up by the United States and the European Union (EU) to shut out China’s renewable industries not only hinder their own green transition but also derail climate action globally, reported the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a Hong Kong-based English-language daily.
The EU’s carbon border tax, in essence, demands that developing countries cut their emissions to the bloc’s level to avoid being punished, ignoring the vast differences between Europe’s economic development and that of developing nations and their abilities to address climate change, Zhou Xiaoming, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing, wrote in an opinion piece for the daily.
Rather than creating a level playing field, as the EU claims, its tax is akin to pitting a heavyweight boxer against a featherweight, said Zhou, also a former deputy representative of China’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Geneva.
More detrimental to global decarbonizing goals are Washington and Brussels’ efforts to reshape global supply chains in renewable industries and electric vehicles to exclude China, according to the article.
Noting that it would take years, if ever, for the United States and the EU to build their own supply chains, during which time they have no way to make up for the lost supply from China, Zhou said it is highly likely that the ability of the United States and the EU to deliver their climate objectives would be severely impaired.
The article pointed out that attempting to shut out China’s renewable industries imperils climate action globally.
“It is unfortunate that global climate goals are being sacrificed on the altar of narrow self-interest,” Zhou said.
