The recently concluded Cop28 UN climate change conference took place while two major wars are being fought. Until we can foster peace among ourselves, achieving a harmonious coexistence with nature seems improbable.
A key focus of the Dubai summit was to establish a “loss and damage” fund to help developing countries cope with and recover from the devastating impact of climate change. There is no denying that the world’s most impoverished countries are being hit the hardest by global warming and are most unfairly affected by climate change.
In October, at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China’s commitment to help countries in the Global South through “small yet smart” projects.
As a leader in green technology, China has the resources to facilitate the developing world’s transition towards a more sustainable model of growth. In 2021, Xi pledged to halt the construction of new coal-fired power projects overseas. More recently, China finished building the world’s largest solar farm in the United Arab Emirates ahead of Cop28.
China is at the forefront of the global renewable energy transition. But its heavy reliance on coal power at home poses a significant obstacle to achieving net-zero emissions. This dependence highlights the challenge of balancing economic progress with environmental protection.
It is a predicament shared by other major powers including the United States and India. Balancing the need for development with climate action is a legitimate concern and a formidable challenge.
Meanwhile, experts are increasingly strident in warning about the world’s rapidly unsustainable reliance on fossil fuels. There is mounting concern that the window to curtail carbon emissions is rapidly narrowing, risking irreversible damage to our planetary habitat.
At the heart of Cop28 lies the critical debate over phasing out fossil fuels. Countries with significant oil reserves view this move as an existential threat to their economic viability. Ahead of the summit, Cop28 president Sultan Al Jaber, when questioned at a climate event, said: “There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5 degrees Celsius.” He later backtracked on his controversial remarks.
In the US, Republican factions question the scientific consensus on climate change, casting doubts on the necessity for such a drastic shift towards a greener economy. This leads to a pivotal concern: the prospect of Donald Trump returning to power.
His decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Accord adversely affected global climate efforts. Trump as US president again could hinder collective efforts to tackle the pressing challenges of global warming – worsening US-China rivalry and disrupting joint efforts to mitigate the environmental crisis.
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US and China’s top climate officials hold talks as rival powers seek to ease tensions
US and China’s top climate officials hold talks as rival powers seek to ease tensions
US-China efforts to fight climate action already suffer from distrust. The Biden administration’s efforts to engage with Beijing has only recently yielded results, such as last month’s San Francisco pledge to renew climate cooperation and step up joint action to combat global warming.
The reportedly strong working relationship between the US and Chinese climate envoys, John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua, has been instrumental in this progress. But these precious gains would be vulnerable if Trump becomes president again.
Another pressing concern is the risk of overt conflict between the US and China. The spectre of war has pushed both Washington and Beijing to prioritise energy security and a continued reliance on fossil fuels, thus creating obstacles to achieving net-zero emissions.
Escalating tensions, notably across the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea, carry the danger of catastrophic conflict with global consequences not just on geopolitical stability but also collective efforts to address climate change.
And here is a troubling aspect of the exacerbation of the environmental crisis, namely the prevalence of enmity, exemplified by conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, which is undermining the world’s endeavours to stem global warming.
True, the Ukraine war had the unexpected effect of sparking the European Union’s accelerated transition away from fossil fuels. But the damage inflicted on Ukraine is unmistakable, devastating its infrastructure and causing long-lasting environmental degradation. Moreover, the war is diverting vital resources away from combating climate change, compounding the challenges faced in restoring both ecological and societal well-being.
Our ability to live harmoniously with nature hinges on our capacity for compassion and empathy for one another. Take, for instance, the devastation of Gaza, where countless Palestinians are trapped in a war zone, deprived of essentials including water and food. The UN General Assembly has finally voted for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war, after the move was vetoed by the US in the Security Council.
But, for too long, the world’s inability to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza cast a shadow on our aspirations for living harmoniously with nature.
If the developments at Cop28 send out any message, it is that the time we have to avert a catastrophic climate disaster is rapidly slipping away. Achieving the delicate balance between economic prosperity and environmental stewardship remains a formidable challenge, one that is compounded by unwarranted scepticism on the scientific consensus on climate change.
But by far the most significant obstacle to climate action may well be our enduring hostilities with one another. Until we can cease to wage war in favour of a peaceful coexistence, the prospect of humankind attaining a harmonious cohabitation with the natural world remains uncertain.
Peter T.C. Chang is a research associate at the Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
