China will be willing to contribute to mechanisms to help developing countries overcome the harm and damage caused by climate change. According to Reuters, Chinese negotiator Xie Chenghua made the announcement at the UN climate conference currently taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Sie said China was under no obligation to participate in the mechanism, but was ready to listen to calls for stronger action from developed countries. China is still classified as a developing country by the World Trade Organization (WTO), despite being the world’s second-largest economy, Reuters notes.

Delegates to the 27th United Nations climate conference have agreed to discuss whether rich countries should pay compensation to poorer, less industrialized countries that are less responsible for the warming climate of today. China’s negotiator Xia said today that Beijing would be happy if funds to support poor countries were created at the current conference.

The United Nations Climate Conference is held annually to assess compliance with emission reduction commitments to prevent the catastrophic consequences of warming. Already at the Paris conference in 2015, political leaders promised to try to limit the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees against the pre-industrial era. However, current measures are insufficient and it seems impossible to keep the temperature rise below the set limits. At the same time, China is one of the countries criticized for not doing enough to combat climate change.

China’s envoy Xie Chenhua said today that China needs to maintain some of the currently operating coal-fired power plants to ensure the stability of the power grid. “Before we give up on older energy sources, we need to have sufficient renewable energy capacity,” Sie said. According to him, Beijing’s plan to gradually reduce coal consumption is “realistic”.

According to Chinese negotiator Xie, each country’s commitment to slowing climate change should not change this year. However, concrete steps must be taken to fulfill these commitments, Sie said.

Chinese officials also said that China had started informal talks with the United States on the sidelines of the COP27 climate conference. “Together with the US President’s Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry, we have agreed here to continue communications,” Sie said.

A Chinese negotiator attributed the blame for the disruption of official negotiations between the US and China, the world’s two biggest air polluters, to Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August “violated China’s sovereignty and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.” “That’s why we decided (at that time) to suspend climate talks with the US,” Xie Chenhua said.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and strongly disapproves of visits to the island by representatives of foreign governments, seeing them as an expression of support for Taiwan’s quest for independence.

Sie today called on the United States to “remove barriers” to the resumption of official climate talks. “The door was closed by them and we, the Chinese, tried to open it,” Sie added.

Asked by reporters why Chinese President Xi Jinping had no plans to attend the 27th World Climate Conference, he replied that the president “has a very demanding program at home” and expected a number of foreign representatives to visit China as well.

On Friday, US President Joe Biden is expected to attend the conference, which will run through November 18, the AP agency warned.

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