Cop29: US out, China in - the future of climate talks?

China is classed as a developing country in the context of UN climate talks, despite being the world’s second biggest economy.

It has long resisted pressure from developed countries to change its status, meaning it doesn’t have to contribute to the pot that rich countries have agreed to pay to poorer ones.

But this year , for the first time, officials said they have paid developing countries more than $24 billion for climate action since 2016 .

Eight out of every ten solar panels are made in China , and it controls two-thirds of wind turbine production.

It is reckoned to produce at least three-quarters of the world’s lithium batteries and more than 60% of the global market for electric vehicles.

China is likely to help drive the COP process forward by discreetly intervening to unblock disputes.

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