Chinese leader Xi Jinping to attend Cop26 by video link | Xi Jinping

China’s president, Xi Jinping, will appear at the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow next week via video link, the country’s foreign ministry has said, after weeks of speculation over what role Xi might play in the meeting, which opens on Sunday.Xi has not left China since last year, when his country was first engulfed in the deadly Covid outbreak. The foreign ministry said on Friday that Xi would take part in this weekend’s G20 leaders’ summit in Rome via video link as well.Beijing published its long-awaited national plan on greenhouse gas emissions on Thursday. The nationally determined contribution (NDC) submitted to the UN says emissions would peak by 2030 and be reduced to net zero three decades later.Activists and analysts say the document represents little progress on the previously announced ambitions of the world’s biggest carbon emitter, disappointing observers of the vital climate talks.“There has been a lot of resistance within the system to embrace higher ambitions that would be in line with international ambitions,” Li Shuo, from Greenpeace Asia, told Reuters news agency. “If we wait until 2030 … the curve [for emission cuts] between 2030 and 2060 is so steep to the extent that some people think this is science fiction.”Xi has been facing pressure from world leaders to promise more on climate. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, asked Xi during a phone call on Tuesday to send the world a “decisive signal” on the climate emergency, the French Presidency said in a statement.So far, at least 14 presidents and prime ministers – including the US president Joe Biden and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison – will appear in person in Glasgow next week. The Queen will not attend the summit, after medical advice to rest this week.The Glasgow meeting will be held immediately after leaders of G20 countries have met in Rome. Countries in the G20 group account for 80% of global carbon emissions. This year’s host, Italy, had hoped to gather members of the group to talk about crucial issues face to face.But leaders from some of the key countries, including Japan’s new prime minister Fumio Kishida and China’s Xi, will not be attending in person. Biden, however, has confirmed he will be there to boost the host.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/29/chinese-leader-xi-jinping-to-attend-cop26-by-video-link