Ep182: China and the Climate Crisis — Good COP, Bad COP?

China In Context: Weekly podcast with experts from SOAS

At the recent COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, China was seen as having played a part in getting an agreement — albeit a much criticised one — to increase funding to mitigate the climate crisis. And with Donald Trump threatening to pull the U.S, out of climate change mechanisms, Beijing’s role could become even more important. But China, now the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, continues to reject calls for it to be given developed nation status, which would require it to make increased financial contributions to tackle climate change. Journalist Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue, discuses China's role in the climate talks, and its domestic environmental problems, with presenter Duncan Hewitt. ________________________________________ In the light of recent developments, this episode was edited on 10 December 2024 to remove a more detailed reference to the podcast's former host, who left China in Context in September 2024. The SOAS China Institute would like to express its condemnation of his behaviour, of which it was unaware at the time, and for which he has now been jailed, and expresses the utmost sympathy to his victims. ________________________________________ (Music credit: Sappheiros / CC BY 3.0)