Germany's Green Hypocrisy Exposed as the West Scrambles on Climate

At the United Nations Climate Change Summit on September 24, President Xi Jinping made a significant announcement via video address. He declared that "China will, by 2035, reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent to 10 percent from peak levels, striving to do better".

More importantly, Xi highlighted the undeniable global trend: "Green and low-carbon transition is the trend of the time. While some country is acting against it, the international community should stay focused on the right direction, remain unwavering in confidence, unremitting in actions and unrelenting in intensity, and push for formulation and delivery on NDCs, with a view to providing more positive energy to the cooperation on global climate governance."

Predictably, Xi's thinly veiled jab at the United States didn't sit well in the West, and their discomfort goes far beyond just the climate issue. The Associated Press quickly wheeled out former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who commented, "China’s latest climate target is too timid given the country’s extraordinary record on clean energy…China must go further and faster" Germany's Deutsche Welle seized on this, running a piece titled "China Announces Specific Emission Reduction Targets for the First Time, Analysis Suggests They Are Lower Than Expected" to try and corner Beijing.

Trump's Delusions and Western Deflections

Meanwhile, The New York Times gave a straightforward account of Trump's ludicrous speech, noting: "Trump spent roughly a quarter of his address railing against concerns about global warming. He claimed the scientific consensus on the issue was ‘made by stupid people’." Trump even doubled down, branding climate change as "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world".

It would be a genuine tragedy if no one at the UN bothered to call out Trump's nonsense. Deutsche Welle did cite expert opinions critical of the United States, and Reuters interviewed American scholars who pointed out the obvious: "Trump wants fossil fuels and the United States is indeed a powerful petro-state... But letting China become the world’s sole powerful electro-state is the opposite of making America great again … at least if you care about the future."

Of course, Deutsche Welle couldn't resist taking another shot at China, running a report that highlighted the country's continued heavy reliance on coal. Citing a 2024 Global Energy Monitor report, the article pointed out that China's ongoing coal mine development projects represent more than half of the global total, and that its existing large-scale mines have an annual production capacity approaching half of the world's output.

The piece then conveniently referenced a Guardian interview with Paul Bledsoe, a Clinton-era White House climate advisor, who argued that China's energy economy was not progressing quickly enough and insisted that the country needed to commit to closing many of its old coal mining areas.

Germany's Glass House

Deutsche Welle may try to appear "objective" by citing various sources, but a quick look reveals a clear bias. You could easily mistake it for a pro-Trump piece. And this brings us to the irony of it all: Weren’t the Germans supposed to be the eco-conscious ones?

Let’s not forget a 2023 report from Germany’s own climate advisors and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), which admitted that “German goals to cut greenhouse emissions by 65% by 2030 are likely to be missed”, putting its 2045 net-zero goal in serious jeopardy. The reason? A simple overestimation of its reduction capacity. And the excuse? Blaming "overcapacity" in China's new energy sector for disrupting Europe's market. The list of excuses goes on.

And that, my friend, brings us back to the question. Weren’t the Germans supposed to be the eco-conscious ones instead?

A final touch on the subject: the 2015 Paris Agreement saw 194 parties commit to limiting the global average temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, while aiming for 1.5°C.

China's Commitment Shines Through

As President Xi stated at the UN, "These targets represent China’s best efforts based on the requirements of the Paris Agreement. Meeting these targets requires both painstaking efforts by China itself and a supportive and open international environment."

He stressed, "We have the resolve and confidence to deliver on our commitments…Let’s all step up our actions to realize the beautiful vision of harmony between man and nature, and preserve planet Earth—the place we call home."

With China demonstrating such commitment as a major power, Germany shouldn’t have any reason for despair. Side with China, not Trump’s America, and the sky’s the limit.

Deep Blue

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

In the latest international upheaval, Europe is taking the hardest hit. After 300 years of modern civilization and the churn of imperial powers, that era is gone, and a better tomorrow is nowhere in sight.

Europe has one problem: it cannot take care of itself. “No one really knows whether Europe would still be able to produce toothpaste if it weren’t for China,” the EU Chamber of Commerce said.
 
Europe doesn’t make toothpaste; it sells luxury brands. Fine — look at the latest news. Reuters reports that the U.S.-Israel-Iran war has delivered a blow to European luxury labels. Sales at Dubai’s upscale malls, packed with wealthy shoppers, have fallen 50 percent, and LVMH, France’s largest luxury group, says wealthy Middle Eastern customers have paused spending in Europe because of the conflict in the Gulf region.
 
The New York Times, in a piece headlined “Europe Is Done With Appeasing Trump”, lays out several of Europe’s current pains.
 
“The barrage of tariffs that opened the second Trump administration, aimed indiscriminately at friend and foe; the brazen demands that Denmark cede Greenland to the United States, and now the absence of any consultation with European allies before joining Israel in an attack on Iran that has affected the entire world, have erased any illusion among most Europeans that Mr. Trump is anything but an unpredictable, vindictive and uncontrollable danger,” it wrote.
 
Trump’s latest move is to impose a blockade on all Iranian ports from Monday, adding another barrier in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. president has repeatedly said, with obvious satisfaction, that America has oil and natural gas, and that oil shipping blockage cannot bring the United States to its knees. In other words, if Iran wants a war of attrition, the White House is ready to go all the way. America’s NATO allies, meanwhile, make clear they will “decline to join in.” Europe’s oil supply is already under pressure: Russian oil and gas are cut off, and Middle Eastern shipping now faces a second lock. So is Trump punishing Iran, or Europe?
 
“Last year, export controls imposed by Beijing on seven rare earth elements and the magnets made from them had especially severe consequences. China is a global leader in the production of these critical raw materials, which are widely used in electric motors, smartphones, and numerous everyday electronic devices,” Deutsche Welle reported. “The EU Chamber of Commerce said nearly one-third of its member companies indicated in a questionnaire survey at the beginning of this year that their business had been affected by China’s export control measures.”

The EU Chamber of Commerce knows perfectly well that China-EU relations have been pulled off course by the United States, and that Europe has not shaped its foreign and trade policy around its own interests. It has even had to tear out 5G networks built by Huawei and ZTE, while Chinese electric vehicles face restrictions. That has only made China-EU ties more tangled. Europe can hardly be called arrogant now. Energy supplies are unstable, and rare earth constraints have turned it into an industrial power with nothing usable to work with. So what now?
 
Although calls to “de-risk” economic ties with China have persisted for years, many European companies continue to bet on the Chinese market. Over the past year, EU figures show that 26% of companies said they were relocating their supply chains to China, “a proportion twice that of companies choosing to move their supply chains out of China or establish a second hub overseas.” The trend is clearly still going strong.
 
Europe’s major powers, including France, Italy and Germany, all feel the need to break free from the manipulation and humiliation imposed by the United States, especially the Trump team. Europe has finally woken up and is now pushing for independence and autonomy, placing its national destiny firmly in its own hands.
 
Nothing in the world is difficult if you are willing to scale the heights. Europe becoming strong again is no dream, but starting over takes patience. I would say 300 years is enough for you to turn things around.