China's US$3 billion pledge to help countries tackle climate change is a sign of growing confidence as a leading player in world affairs
But it could also have some fallout at home as China’s economic growth continues to slow.
The significant and new climate finance pledges made by China are a game changer
As part of a joint statement by President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama, China will “make available 20 billion yuan (HK$24 billion) through a bilateral fund to help developing countries combat climate change”, according to a White House statement.
The world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases will also launch a national carbon trading programme in 2017 to support emission reductions in industries ranging from power generation to iron and steel, chemicals, cement, paper-making and non-ferrous metals.
It will become the world’s biggest carbon market, dwarfing the European Union’s decade-old scheme.
“The significant and new climate finance pledges made by China are a game changer … These are a drastic increase from China’s previous finance commitments,” said Li Shuo, senior climate policy analyst with Greenpeace East Asia.