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Xi Jinping, the President of China will boycott the Cop26 climate summit scheduled to hold in Glasgow next month, according to reports.
Widespread frenzy has already rented the air since the absence of the leader of a global superpower could echo as a major blow for Boris Johnson’s government.
Doubts had been raised regarding Xi Jinping’s presence prior to the summit, but The Times has now reported that diplomats have informed the PM the Chinese president will not join other global leaders at the summit.
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The climate summit has been dubbed as a critical rallying point when the G20 nations must step up to the plate and save the planet from an imminent climate crisis.
On Thursday, the White House confirmed that US President Joe Biden would be attending the crucial summit.
On Friday morning, it was also confirmed that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a climate change skeptic, would attend, amid calls from Prince Charles for him to do so.
However, contribution from China is considered crucial in the fight against climate change, and Xi Jinping’s decision to boycott the summit will raise concern that the Chinese do not quite appreciate the dire nature of the situation.
Xi Jinping, while at the recent landmark Paris climate conference had announced that China would no longer invest in new overseas coal initiatives, whereas schemes at home appear to be speeding up.
“It is now pretty clear that Xi is not going to turn up and the PM has been told that,” a Government source told The Times.
“What we don’t know is what stance the Chinese are going to take. They could go to the G20 [summit in Rome on October 30-31] with new commitments but that is now looking less likely.”
“The truth is that unless China comes with new commitments we’re not going to be able to keep [the climate target of] 1.5 degrees alive.”
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Another source, who highlighted Xi’s lack of foreign travel in recent years to the paper, was more optimistic about what the move might mean.
There is a sense of apprehension around the UK, which will be hosting the Cop26 that China’s withdrawal from the summit heralds its intention of not setting new climate goals.
All the countries that will be attending the Cop26 are expected to publish targets before the conference, but with the summit barely two weeks away, only half of the G20 countries have submitted their plans.
The post Xi Jinping, China President To Boycott Cop26 Climate Summit appeared first on SurgeZirc UK.
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