Kiina – vastuullinen kehitysmaa?

Kiinan ilmastodiskurssit ja globaali vastuu

Abstract

China’s engagement in international climate politics is undoubtedly imperative yet also raises a wide range of ethical questions globally. In this paper, I examine the discursive struggle over China’s role and responsibility in international climate politics. Firstly, I analyze how Western discourse on “responsible great powerness” attempts to redirect and constrain China’s position in international negotiations on climate change. Secondly, I argue that China defends its interests and responds to Western demands by advancing two, partly conflicting, climate discourses simultaneously. On one hand, despite its growing international status, China emphasizes its status as a poor developing country. On the other hand, the rhetoric of being a “responsible stakeholder” is used to assure other nations of China’s credibility and benevolence; China is neither a threat to other countries nor to the environment. The paper concludes that, without developed countries’ strict climate strategies, the US in particular, China will continue to focus on its “China as a developing country” discourse and will unlikely bear more global responsibility. Nevertheless, Western discourse on “responsible great powerness” restricts China’s policies since the Chinese government does not want to be perceived as a threat yet wishes to be seen as a “responsible stakeholder” instead.