Re-reading the editorial we wrote 2 years ago in December 2019, when China Environment News had just begun, reminds us that the contradictions we pointed to then have only intensified.
The previous UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid in December 2019 was sabotaged by the rich Western nations, led by the US, when they refused to significantly progress their 2009 COP15 promise for a $100 billion per year global fund to help developing nations tackle climate change.
So it was no surprise that discussions on finance at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow got off to a difficult start after it was revealed rich country donors won’t meet a long overdue collective goal to mobilise $100 billion a year before 2023 – three later than they committed.
At Glasgow, the rich nations seem intent on attaching burdensome conditions on finance for developing nations, with the US demanding interference in internal governance as a condition of loans “promised” by Biden are passed by Congress. The same Congress that for years has refused to ratify just about every major international environmental agreement.
Developing countries have now put a dollar figure on their post-2025 climate finance needs: $1.3 trillion a year. The African nations +24 “like-minded” countries that includes China and India have accused the rich donor countries of ducking substantive talks on finance.
We will no doubt soon see if the Global North is serious about combatting climate change, or intent on using it as an opportunity further exploit the developing world. Don’t hold your breath.
CHINA ENVIRONMENT NEWS EDITORIAL
(Originally posted 17 December 2020)
The global environmental crisis is the product of centuries of Western plunder of the land, resources, and labour of the Global South.
US and Western over consumption is still the leading force for environmental destruction of the global ecosystem.
China continues to be a key driving force in moving the planet towards ecological civilization and in redressing centuries of plunder of the land, labour and resources of the global south by Western imperialism.In the global battle for ecological rationality and equity, China has increasingly emerged as the international leader for Green development and what the Chinese call ecological civilisation.
A key reason China Environment News was created was to contribute towards providing rational and balanced news about what is happening in China in regard to the protecting the environment, both within that amazing nation and globally, and to make such information available in those countries (such as Asian Pacific nations and “5 eye countries” like Australia and New Zealand) that are subjected to an endless of barrage of Anglo-US anti-China propaganda, distortion and “false news”.
We support global north-south equity, and reject the West’s anti-socialist, neo-“liberal” capitalist ideology, which is unfortunately embraced by many Western Greens.The global environmental crisis is not something that can be reversed simply by adopting the “environmental modernization” of international capitalism, nor a “Green New Deal” which appeals to and entrenches the privileges of the West.
This does not mean that we do not welcome meaningful Western reforms and initiatives. But we do bear in mind the history of the West in subjugating both humanity and nature.
Global ecological crisis is the product of centuries of largely unrestrained Western industrialisation and plunder of the natural resources, land and labour of global south by imperialism and its current neo-liberal incarnation.Seriously tackling global ecological crisis must involve a global redistribution of power and wealth.
The previous round of UN climate change negotiations were held in Madrid in December 2019. These saw the rich Western nations, particularly the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia and Canada, led by the United States sabotage progress on the key issue of addressing historic greenhouse gas contributions.
The rich Western bloc has repeatedly reneged on their commitments to deliver financial and technological assistance to developing nations to avoid the pollution model of Western development. This is necessary for developing nations to bypass the ecological mess inherited from the West and to lift the standard of living of their peoples.
In this global battle for ecological rationality and equity, China has emerged as the international leader. Much of the current Western anti-China hysteria is an attempt to disguise and undermine emerging global leadership and success of People’s China.The Biden regime (the “Democratic Party” faction of the US imperialist ruling class) has continued the broad spectrum war against China, focusing on the lie that China is “the world’s biggest polluter.”
We have all along said that the battle to save the precious ecology of our planet comes down to the question: which side are you on?Are you for or against imperialism? There is no “middle path”.
[Originally posted 17 December 2020; Updated by Admin on 28 April 2021; 8 November 2021]
Follow us on the web at
https://china-environment-news.com
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.