China can lead global climate actions with economics

Christiana Figueres, discussing China’s economic leadership in climate solutions:

Several episodes ago, I can’t exactly remember which one, but several episodes ago, we talked about the possibility that the BRICS, for sure, led by China, would reinterpret global decarbonization to their benefit in their own way for the moment of development that they are in. And we said, if they do so, we actually may be in very good hands from a climate action perspective.

And this conversation leads me to at least have a sense, no guarantee, of course, but maybe, maybe that’s what we’re seeing. We’re seeing a reinterpretation of decarbonization moving away, as we said from the beginning, away from ideology, away from climate policy, away from protocol and international multilateral negotiations over to hard-nosed economics. What is going to help our economy? Where are we competitive? And let’s go for that.