{"id":8549,"date":"2021-09-16T07:30:47","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T07:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=8549"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:50:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:50:19","slug":"5-ways-british-chinese-businesses-cop26-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/5-ways-british-chinese-businesses-cop26-targets\/","title":{"rendered":"5 ways UK and China businesses can help meet COP26 targets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow at the end of October with the aim of accelerating action on the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. What role can UK and Chinese businesses play in support of these targets? A new CBBC webinar takes a closer look<\/span><\/h2>\n

China \u2014 as the world\u2019s second-largest economy \u2014 will play a crucial role in the negotiations. The UK and Chinese governments have set themselves ambitious targets to reach \u201cnet zero\u201d by 2050 and 2060 respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With less than two months to go before the critical climate change conference, COP26 President-Designate (and British MP) Alok Sharma recently completed a series of meetings with Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs of China, Xie Zhenhua, in Tianjin, emphasising the need to take urgent action to keep the global rise in temperature at or below 1.5\u2103. They discussed President Xi Jinping\u2019s commitment to achieving peak emissions before 2030 and reducing the country\u2019s use of coal, as well as how China can build on its position as the largest investor in renewable energy and the largest domestic market for zero-emission vehicles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But what concrete steps have both countries taken to achieve this in the run-up to COP26? As an ongoing CBBC webinar series explores, actions taken fall into a number of categories, including urban energy transition and green finance.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The urban energy transition<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

Climate change is forcing cities and regions around the world to face up to an inevitable energy transition. Nowhere is the need for this more evident than in what might be described as \u2018Energy Cities\u2019, whose economic fabric has for decades relied heavily upon growth in conventional thermal energy sources such as coal and oil. They are often among the most carbon-intensive regions of the world, and where the greatest savings and reductions can be made. The UK and China have several regions of this nature, and the ability to facilitate their transition to more sustainable models of economic activity is a priority for both local and central government.<\/span><\/p>\n

An April 2021 report by global renewable energy community REN21 found that 106 cities in the UK had set renewable energy targets or policies, and many have begun taking concrete measures. For example, in August 2021, Oxford launched its first Zero Emission Zone, which applies a variable daily charge to vehicles within the zone between the hours of 7am-7pm, depending on the emissions the vehicle produces. <\/span><\/p>\n

In China, 25 cities had renewable energy targets or policies, covering an impressive 38% of the urban population in China. Notable policies include specific targets for hydrogen use in transport and fuel cells in Foshan, and bans on the use of fossil fuels in buildings in Handan and Taiyuan.<\/span><\/p>\n