China rules out hosting 2028 Cop33 climate summit after India also declines
Summary
- China, the world's largest emitter, dominates clean energy supply chains, holding about 85% of solar and 80% of lithium-ion battery production capacity.
- China's five-year plan adopted in March 2026 pledged for the first time to 'actively participate in and lead global climate governance'.
- At the Cop31 summit in Turkey, China wants talks on the free flow of green technology, seen as aimed at US and EU tariffs on its electric vehicles and solar products.
- Former US secretary of state John Kerry says the United States and the rest of the world must now follow China's lead on clean energy.
- China's clean-tech exports surpassed $220bn in 2025, and its emissions have been flat or falling since March 2024.
- China has ruled out hosting Cop33 in 2028; India also declined, and Uzbekistan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand are mulling bids.
Reactions
- Al Gore said he would have favoured China hosting the summit and called its decision 'too bad'.
- John Kerry forecast that countries failing to embrace low-carbon power would lose out economically and endanger the climate.
- Yixian Sun said global north countries are not ready to accept China's climate leadership and that more trust must be extended.
- Li Shuo said China faces the question of whether it steps into climate leadership out of self-interest rather than obligation.
- Kate Logan forecast China would be content with a cooperative Cop31 outcome that produces nothing monumental.
- Gareth Redmond-King said China hosting Cop33 would have been a big deal, citing its clean energy investment and falling emissions.
Timeline newest first
China rules out hosting the Cop33 UN climate summit in 2028, leaving other Asian countries to bid after India also declined; Uzbekistan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand are mulling bids.
Sources newest first
- China rules out hosting Cop33 climate summit in 2028
The Guardian reports that China has ruled out hosting the Cop33 climate summit in 2028, leaving the field open to other Asian countries after India also declined, with Uzbekistan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand mulling bids. It notes China's clean energy boom, US withdrawal under Trump, and Al Gore's regret.
John Kerry: America must now follow China's lead on clean energymotherjones.com
A Guardian article carried on Mother Jones has John Kerry, the former US Secretary of State, saying China leads the world in moving away from fossil fuels and that America and others must now follow. It details China's dominance in clean-tech supply chains and what its role at Cop31 in Turkey may signal.
US and rest of world must follow China’s lead on green energy, says John KerryA Guardian news article reports John Kerry's warning, as the Cop31 climate summit opens in Turkey, that China leads the world in moving away from fossil fuels and the US and others must follow or lose out economically and endanger the climate. It details China's clean-tech dominance and its push to lead global climate governance, while analysts watch whether Beijing will act on that rhetoric.
Background newest first
As the world's calamities converge climate talks tread water
abc.net.au· 27h
In an analysis for ABC, Laura Tingle argues the COP31 talks in Antalya are treading water, with the 1.5°C target conceded as blown and key leaders — including the US nationally, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi and Mark Carney — absent. She judges the co-presidents' '35 by 35' electrification pledge starkly unambitious and non-binding, while Chris Bowen says meeting it would require quadrupling the pace of electrification and Matt Kean urges Australia to decarbonise its grid and electrify now.
Climate must remain priority, says António Guterres at last Cop as UN chiefThe Guardian reports on António Guterres's final Cop as UN secretary general, where he says climate action must remain central to global governance, arguing that peace, poverty eradication and young people's futures all depend on it. At Cop31 in Antalya, negotiators are working toward a cover decision covering electrification, methane cuts and fossil fuel phaseout, while fears grow his successor may downplay the climate crisis.
Betrayedsubstack.com· 30h
Mark Chadbourn's Substack post argues COP31 in Antalya — where UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is the only G7 leader present and Thunberg makes her first attendance since Glasgow 2021 — shows everything wrong with the fight against the climate crisis, as Trump's absence gives other leaders cover to shirk commitments. Quoting Thunberg's line that the world "is not dying, it is being killed," he says governments' short-term thinking is sacrificing the future while a Climate Action Tracker report puts Earth on track for 2.7C of heating.
Cop31 live: Climate crisis negotiations heat up on fifth day of talksThe Guardian's live blog follows day five of the Cop31 climate talks in Antalya, where nearly all world leaders have departed and real negotiations are expected to begin on a draft cover decision covering fossil fuel transition, electrification, and finance. Alongside the electrification theme and IEA head Fatih Birol's "age of electricity" framing, it reports China's decision not to host Cop33, Sheldon Whitehouse as the only US senator attending without a Trump delegation, the UK's still-unpublished climate security report, and Greenpeace's Trojan horse protest against plastic.
'No one is coming to our rescue,' Thunberg blasts world leaders at COPyahoo.com· 2d
Yahoo News reports that Greta Thunberg, returning to climate summits after years of staying away, blasted world leaders at a COP31 press conference in Antalya, saying "no one is coming to our rescue" and "the planet is not dying, it is being killed." She appeared alongside indigenous activist Rikki Dank, who says fracking is destroying her community's homeland and urged Anthony Albanese to stop speaking and start listening.
Trump the ‘biggest loser’ for scrapping climate action, John Kerry says at Cop31A Guardian article from Cop31 in Antalya reports John Kerry calling Donald Trump the "biggest loser we've seen in a long time" for scrapping climate action and abandoning the clean energy race with China, at a summit the Trump administration is snubbing entirely. The UN secretary general urges phasing out fossil fuels, while Greta Thunberg calls the Cops "greenwashed circuses".
Andy Burnham pledges 'new era of British leadership' on climate in speech at COP31 summit - follow livebbc.com· 2d
The BBC live report covers Andy Burnham's COP31 speech in Antalya, where the UK prime minister — the only G7 leader attending — pledges a "new era of British leadership" on climate, names Dame Madeleine Alessandri the world's first special representative for climate security, and backs a £5bn clean energy finance programme. The report also tracks absent leaders including Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, Nepal's push for mountain issues after its deadly glacier-collapse flood, Tuvalu's climate visa ballot with Australia, and green criticism that Burnham's record on Rosebank and electric vehicle targets looks like "doublethink".
‘The world we know is over’ without urgent climate action, Marshall Islands president tells Cop31At the Cop31 summit in Turkey, Marshall Islands president Hilda Heine warns that without an overwhelming response to the climate crisis "the world we know is over," telling leaders that overshooting 1.5C would bring waves eating away shores and floods destroying towns, schools and hospitals. Dozens of world leaders gathered, though Donald Trump and Xi Jinping were absent, and amid warnings from Mia Mottley and António Guterres — in one of his last speeches as UN secretary general — there is little sign of progress on phasing out fossil fuels.
Australia's climate credibility questioned at UN conference
ABC News reports that at the COP31 summit in Antalya, Türkiye, which Australia is co-leading, Anthony Albanese urged stepped-up climate action and support for Pacific nations while critics, including Adam Bandt and climate advocates, said new coal and gas approvals undermine the country's climate leadership. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the world must stop building new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Thunberg and Guterres blast oil companies for "fossil fuel addiction"euronews.com· 3d
Greta Thunberg and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres blasted fossil fuel companies for "killing our planet" at the COP31 talks in Turkey, where Thunberg — attending her first summit since 2021 — called the annual conference hypocritical and "full of lobbyists." Guterres urged governments to tax oil companies' windfall profits, while the negotiations, running to 20 November, face low expectations of breakthroughs amid the US war with Iran and Russia's war in Ukraine.
Cop31 live: World leaders to speak at climate crisis summitThe Guardian's Cop31 liveblog tracks the leaders' summit in Antalya, where dozens of world leaders are expected for speeches but most G7 heads are absent, including leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan; only the UK's leader is attending. Climate Action Network gave its "fossil of the day" to the absent leaders of wealthy countries, several reportedly headed for Dublin's AI summit instead.
UN chief urges Cop31 hosts Turkey and Australia to turn fossil fuel promises into actionThe Guardian reports that UN secretary general António Guterres urged Cop31's co-hosts, Turkey and Australia, to move from discussing the end of fossil fuels to delivering it, as Brazil presented a roadmap for the transition at the Antalya summit. Erdoğan extolled his country's oilfields before his appearance, more than 700 groups demanded a just-transition mechanism, and Greta Thunberg called the Cop talks greenwashed circuses.
Cop31 live: ‘Everything and everyone we love is at stake,’ Greta Thunberg warnsThe Guardian's live blog covers day two of the Cop31 UN climate summit in Antalya, where Greta Thunberg makes her first Cop appearance since Glasgow 2021, warning that everything and everyone we love is at stake, and scientists report fossil fuel emissions have flatlined for 2026. The blog also follows Turkey's announcement of two new Gabar oilfields that critics call contradictory, John Kerry's praise of China's clean-energy lead, more than 700 groups pushing for a just transition mechanism, and a steelworks explosion near Izmir that has killed 17.
The superpower battle over energy, and the impact on your billsA BBC InDepth article by climate editor Justin Rowlatt says the US bet on fossil fuels and China's bet on renewable technology have made energy policy a superpower contest, leaving the UK squeezed between an American president's push for oil and gas and its reluctance to depend on Chinese turbines, panels and batteries. With gas prices soaring after strikes closed the Strait of Hormuz, suppliers forecast UK bills could jump by around £460 a year in January as ministers weigh approving the Rosebank oil field.
COP31 is here. Will anyone finally say "fossil fuels"?Mother Jones previews the COP31 climate summit opening November 9, 2026 in Antalya, Turkey—hosted under an unusual compromise but presided over by Australia—and traces nearly 30 years of negotiations that avoided naming fossil fuels until COP28's 2023 agreement, which the article says neglected to say how or when a phaseout would happen. It reports a UN warning that the world is on track to overshoot 1.5 degrees of warming, quotes John Kerry calling the US absence under Trump a defeat of the meetings' purpose, and notes the second straight year without a US delegation.
High fossil fuel prices spread inflation ‘like a cancer’, UN climate negotiator tells Cop31The Guardian reports on the opening of the Cop31 climate talks in Turkey, where UN negotiator Simon Stiell warned that high fossil fuel prices are spreading inflation "like a cancer" and pressed a renewable energy and electrification goal. Australia's Chris Bowen said the 1.5C target will be overshot but can be returned to, as vulnerable nations and scientists warned of accelerating warming.
COP31: Agenda adopted! - Conversations / Policy - Carbon Brief Connectcarbonbrief.org· 5d
A Carbon Brief Connect forum post reports that the COP31 agenda was adopted in Antalya, Turkey, on 9 November 2026 after a short delay, with proposals on mountains, Green Climate Fund funding, and tripling adaptation finance left off, some deferred "without prejudice" by president Murat Kurum. The EU and India clashed over whether the climate finance work programme was meant to get a standalone agenda item.
Which countries and industries emit the most greenhouse gases?aljazeera.com· 5d
Ahead of COP31 in Antalya, an Al Jazeera visual explainer breaks down which countries and industries emit the most greenhouse gases: the power industry leads at nearly 30 percent, with power, industry and transport together producing about two-thirds of global emissions. It reports that China, the United States and India emitted almost half the world's 54.1 billion tonnes in 2025, and notes Xi Jinping's pledge to cut China's emissions 7 to 10 percent from their peak by 2035.
Turkiye pushes electrification top of climate agenda as COP31 set to openAFP and Reuters report that Turkiye is launching its non-binding 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge as COP31 opens in Antalya on 9 November 2026, aiming for electricity to make up at least 35 percent of global energy demand by 2035. Climate advocates criticise the pledge for not requiring low-carbon electricity, while Murat Kurum says electrification protects communities from volatile markets and cuts emissions.
Cop31 must deliver climate progress that people can see is real, host saysThe Guardian previews the start of the Cop31 UN climate talks in Antalya, Turkey, where close to 190 countries gather with Australia presiding over negotiations and the host calling for progress people can see is real. Record temperatures, a record El Niño, the US's absence, and fights over climate finance and a 35% electricity target loom over the talks.
How do you broker UN climate talks when your own country is a big coal and gas exporter? Chris Bowen is about to find outA Guardian article examines how Chris Bowen, Australia's climate change minister, will broker Cop31 negotiations in Antalya among nearly 200 countries while his own country is the world's second largest thermal coal exporter and a top gas exporter. Climate advocates question whether a major fossil fuel producer can lead the move away from coal, oil and gas — Bowen rejects the doubt — while more than 500 scientists urged Anthony Albanese to end coal and gas approvals.
What’s the point? Ten years after the Paris treaty, are climate talks getting anywhere?A Guardian article marking ten years of the Paris agreement argues climate action has reached an impasse: temperatures have exceeded the 1.5C threshold for two years, warming has accelerated to 0.4C a decade, the US has withdrawn under Donald Trump, and the Cop30 summit ended with a deal few loved. The paper questions whether the Cop process is fit for purpose, though experts including Johan Rockström and Juan Carlos Monterrey say Paris remains a vital moral compass, and electrification offers progress.
Analysis: China’s quarterly CO2 falls 3% in largest drop since Covid - Carbon BriefCarbon Brief's guest analysis by Lauri Myllyvirta finds China's CO2 emissions fell 3.1% in the third quarter of 2026, the largest quarterly drop since the 2022 Covid lockdowns, driven by falling coal use, transport oil down 9% amid the Hormuz crisis, and record electric-vehicle sales. He finds it likely clean-power growth will exceed total energy demand growth in 2026, maintaining the structural fall in fossil-fuel use.
Global Electricity Review 2026 | Emberember-energy.org· 29w
Ember's 'Major Countries and Regions' chapter of the Global Electricity Review 2026 profiles the seven largest power sectors—China, the United States, the European Union, India, Russia, Japan and Brazil, which together account for 72% of global electricity demand—ordered by their 2025 demand. It reports China's first fossil generation decline since 2015, EU wind and solar exceeding fossil generation for the first time, solar overtaking fossil in Brazil, and coal falling in India as renewables outpaced demand, while US emissions rose 3.1% on gas-to-coal switching.
China added record wind and solar power in 2025, data showsthestar.com.my· 41w
An AFP article reports that China added record wind and solar capacity in 2025 — 315 gigawatts of solar and 119 of wind — while coal and gas additions also surged, according to National Energy Administration data. Analyst Lauri Myllyvirta says the renewables will displace fossil power into 2027, but the fossil additions risk obstructing clean energy.
China adds 315 GW of solar in 2025 - pv magazine Globalpv-magazine.com· 41w
pv magazine Global reports China added a record 315.07 GW of solar and 119.33 GW of wind in 2025, with non-fossil capacity overtaking thermal for the first time, reaching 60.4% of installed power. Most forecasters expect 2026 installations to decline, with the China Photovoltaic Industry Association pointing to a drop of around 20% to 25%.
China | Energy Trends | EmberEmber's China country page reports that clean sources generated 42% of the country's electricity in 2025, with coal generation falling 71 TWh — the first drop since 2015 — as fossil fuels' share slipped to 58%. Ember says the fossil decline may mark a structural shift and forecasts that China could peak fossil fuel consumption by 2030.
