As Beijing swelters, activists hope the heat will prompt climate action | China | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/30/as-beijing-swelters-activists-hope-the-heat-will-prompt-climate-actionalthough there is some limited education about climate change, permitted discourse stops short of talking about major policy shifts, such as reducing China’s coal emissions more rapidly. The government has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2060, but concerns about energy security and the need for economic growth mean that local authorities are showing no sign of backing down on building new coal power.
Also, says Zhao, “even if people link heatwaves and climate change, they don’t think it’s something that the individual should pay attention to.” Most people see it as being the government’s responsibility – and therefore out of the hands of the public, she says.
Still, awareness of climate change, and discussion about how it can be managed, is ticking up. The topic is increasingly discussed in state media. Analysis by Sixth Tone, a state-backed outlet, found that mentions of key words relating to climate change jumped from about 750,000 in 2019 to nearly 3.3m in 2021.
Surveys suggest that, compared with the US, a slightly higher proportion of Chinese people accept that climate change is happening and that it is caused by human activity.