China’s Climate Diplomacy and Global Environment Challenges: The Conflict between Sustainable Development and National Interests
Publisher: East Asia
Author(s): Deepak Krishnakumar and C. A. Josukutty
Date: 2025
Topics: Climate Change, Extractive Resources, Programming
Countries: China
Climate change is among the most urgent global issues, with impacts like droughts, rising sea levels, heatwaves, and melting glaciers threatening life on Earth. Every country contributes to this danger, especially major powers like the United States, China, the European Union, and India. As the world’s largest emitter, responsible for about 29.16% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, China’s policies are crucial in the fight against climate change. China’s climate policies reflect conflict between sustainable development principles and national interests. While China’s global positions often align with sustainability goals, its domestic priorities such as reliance on coal, fossil fuel subsidies, subnational challenges and inefficient use of renewable energy undermine its global commitments. These domestic policies exacerbate global environmental challenges, causing irreparable damage to people, economies, and ecosystems both within China and beyond its borders. This paper examines China's role in international climate negotiations and its compulsions of domestic development. We argue that there is a strong conflict between China's domestic and global climate policies. To capture the nuances of this scenario, the paper utilises insights from the concept of sustainable development and the theory of realism in international relations.