China has ruled out hosting the Cop33 UN climate summit in 2028 after months of deliberations, leaving the field open for other Asian countries to hold it, the Guardian understands.

The decision will disappoint many countries and climate experts, who had hoped the world’s biggest emitter would take the lead on the global stage, as the US under Donald Trump has vacated all forms of international cooperation on the climate.

Al Gore, the former US vice-president, was among those left disheartened by the decision. “I would be very much in favour of that idea [of China hosting the summit],” he told the Guardian. “It’s too bad.”

China is in the midst of an economic transformation, from being heavily dependent on coal to becoming an “electro state”. John Kerry, the former US secretary of state, told the Guardian that China was leaving the rest of the world behind in forging and using the low-carbon technologies of the future.

View image in fullscreenFormer US secretary of state John Kerry at Cop31. Photograph: Kaan Soyturk/Reuters

Renewable energy generation capacity has now outstripped coal in China, and its greenhouse gas emissions appear to have declined slightly this year.

Sales of electric vehicles in the country have also taken off, making up nearly two-thirds of the market last month, and China’s clean energy industries drove more than 90% of the country’s investment growth last year.

The rules of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) mean an Asian country should host in 2028.

Gareth Redmond-King, the international lead at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank, said China’s position as an industrial powerhouse would have made it a formidable contender to hold the summit.

“It would undoubtedly be significant for the world’s biggest emitter and second-biggest economy to host a climate Cop,” he said.

“They’re leading the world on investment, manufacture and deployment of clean energy tech, and their emissions have started to tick down. As a leadership story, China hosting Cop33 would be a big deal.”

China rules out hosting Cop33 climate summit in 2028Read more