Hello and welcome to another ChargeSmart blog! Today, we will be taking a look at Australia's views on sustainability for which they have come under fire from the Chinese government.
If you've been listening to the news lately then you would have heard about Australia's criticisms of China over their treatment of a minor Muslim ethnic group. We prefer to stay away from politics on this blog but instead focus on EVs, sustainability and all that good stuff. Anyway, China recently turned around and took aim at our Australian friends over their views on sustainability.
China has been on a long journey to reduce their carbon emissions, they might be the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gasses but their movement to rid themselves of that title needs to be commended. In 2018, China produced 58% of its energy from coal and while that still seems like a lot, it is down significantly from 74% reliance on coal a little over 10 years ago. China also leads the world in their adoption of wind, solar and geothermal energy generation sources. China’s use of renewable energy has been growing by 25% each year over the last five years! Not to forget that China had a large subsidy on the purchase of electric cars until recently. They are also focusing on building high speed rail networks to replace complex highway systems unlike the US and their carbon heavy interstates.
China then, have a reasonable background when it comes to reducing carbon emissions and using less fossil fuels. They used their background recently to slam the Australian government over their reluctance to help the Pacific Island Nations who need to prepare for the effects of global warming. China have been funding the construction of infrastructure in these small Pacific Nations, a move which many say is politically motivated. The Prime Minister of Fiji has been unhappy with Australia’s weak policies that are meant to tackle carbon emissions. Australia say that they are abiding by the Paris agreement but statistics say that their carbon emissions are actually rising, something that the Island nations are not happy about.
At the same time, Australian aid to the Pacific Islands has been falling year on year with most of the aid money going towards fixing telephone lines and water pipes. The Chinese criticized the Aussies over their reluctance to help the small Pacific Island Nations prepare for the effects of global warming.
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