6 Jun 2017: AP: California, China sign climate deal after Trump’s Paris exit
By MATTHEW BROWN; AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
Gov. Jerry Brown told The Associated Press at an international clean energy conference in Beijing that Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris agreement will ultimately prove only a temporary setback.
For now, he said, China, European countries and individual U.S. states will fill the gap left by the federal government’s move to abdicate leadership on the issue...
Brown later held a closed-door meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which the two pledged to expand trade between California and China with an emphasis on so-called green technologies that could help address climate change, Brown said...
Trump’s decision (to withdraw from Paris Accord) drew heavy criticism within the U.S. and internationally, including in China, which swiftly recommitted itself to the agreement forged with the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama. Trump argued that the Paris agreement favors emerging economies such as China’s and India’s at the expense of U.S. workers...
Tuesday’s agreement between California and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology effectively sidestepped Trump’s move, bringing about alignment on an issue of rising global importance between the world’s second-largest economy — China — and California...
Brown signed similar collaboration agreements over the past several days with leaders in two Chinese provinces, Jiangsu and Sichuan...
Without mentioning Trump by name, Brown told attendees at a forum on electric vehicles that “there are still people in powerful places who are resisting reality.”
Later, when asked by the AP what could prompt the U.S. to return to the forefront of climate change efforts, Brown replied, “Science, facts, the world, the marketplace.”
https://apnews.com/9c3ede893ff84df2a04f16a78415d93d/California,-China-sign-climate-deal-after-Trump%27s-Paris-exit
24 Sept 2019: Reuters: California ex-governor launches climate partnership with China
By Valerie Volcovici
Former California Governor Jerry Brown on Monday announced the launch of a partnership between China and the University of California at Berkeley to advance research into low-carbon technology to fight climate change...
“The climate threat doesn’t respect borders and it doesn’t pause for politics,” Brown said in an interview. “This will be the open channel between America and China on the number one topic our countries share – not trade but climate change.”
The two-time Democratic California governor announced the California-China Climate Institute alongside China’s top climate change official Xie Zhenhua...
He added that California and China would also “work on models for cap-and-trade”. Both already have in place emissions trading systems aimed at lowering emissions.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-un-china/california-ex-governor-launches-climate-partnership-with-china-idUKKBN1W82A6
11 Sept: China Dialogue: What are the prospects of an EU–China climate deal?
Ahead of the EU–China leaders’ call on 14 September, the EU is looking to China for strong climate targets
by Byford Tsang, Jennifer Tollmann
Although trade will be the focus of the EU–China leaders’ call on 14 September, it would be a mistake to think climate is off the summit’s agenda or unimportant in the broader relationship...
***Unspoken, but not forgotten in the European debate is growing concern over China’s reawakening coal habit. If China completes all the coal power plants it is currently building and plans to build, the lifetime emissions from these projects would be equal to nearly seven times the EU’s annual emissions...
https://chinadialogue.net/en/climate/what-are-the-prospects-of-an-eu-china-climate-deal/
25 June: Economic Times India: Reuters: China has 250 GW of coal-fired power under development: study
Beijing has vowed to replace coal with cleaner energy forms, but new coal project approvals have accelerated this year, according to the study by Global Energy Monitor (GEM) and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
SHANGHAI: China has nearly 250 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired power now under development, more than the entire coal power capacity of the United States, a new study said on Thursday, casting doubt on the country’s commitments to cutting fossil fuel use...
https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/coal/china-has-250-gw-of-coal-fired-power-under-development-study/76616107
23 Sept: Yahoo: AFP: China eyes climate leadership with 2060 carbon neutral goal
PIC: Cities like Shanghai are frequently shrouded in smog from China’s pollution-belching factories
Speaking to the UN General Assembly, Xi renewed his support for the Paris climate accord and called for a green focus as the world recovers from the Covid-19 crisis...
But China’s leader did not immediately put meat on the bones of his carbon-slashing commitment.
China currently has ***135 gigawatts of coal-power capacity either permitted or under construction, according to Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based environmental group.
That equates to about half the total coal-power capacity in the US...
Joeri Rogelj, a climate expert at ***Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute, called Xi’s pledge “unexpected and eye-opening.”...
Several experts said it was still a significant step to bring new life to the Paris accords.
“This announcement will send positive shockwaves through diplomatic circles and should prompt greater climate ambition from other major emitters,” said Helen Mountford, vice president for climate and economics at the World Resources Institute in Washington...
Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, a Belgian climate scientist and former vice chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN expert panel, called Xi’s commitment “very important.”
But he questioned whether China would follow its own guidelines as it pursues a global infrastructure-building binge — for example, if it will still back coal plants in Africa...
The future of the Paris accord will be partly determined on November 3 as Trump runs for re-election against Joe Biden, who has pledged to return the United States to the agreement and move toward carbon neutrality by 2050.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/china-sets-2060-goal-carbon-191800426.html