THE nation has issued its first ever absolute targets for cutting planet-warming gases, a landmark pledge from the world’s top polluter as the United States doubles down on fossil fuels and Europe falters.
The announcement on Wednesday was delivered via video by President Xi Jinping to a United Nations climate summit where some 120 nations will outline plans to curb global warming, which is intensifying disasters worldwide from floods in Pakistan to raging wildfires in Spain.
Under the new plan, China will reduce economy-wide emissions by 7-10% by 2035 relative to the year of the country’s peak emissions, believed to be 2025.
Observers said that while the absolute figure may seem modest, China has a record of under-promising while over-delivering, driven by its green technology boom.
It comes as the United States under President Donald Trump, who called climate change a “con job” at the UN a day earlier, boosts fossil fuels both at home and abroad.
“Green and low-carbon transition is the trend of our time,” said Xi in an official translation.
“While some country is acting against it, the international community should stay focused in the right direction.”
China, responsible for nearly 30% of global emissions, had previously pledged to peak its carbon output before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, without ever previously setting near-term numeric targets for total emissions reductions.
The new goal is backed by commitments to expand wind and solar six times over 2020 levels, drastically expand forests, and ramp up electric cars production.
Most wealthy nations, historically the biggest contributors to warming, peaked decades ago but still lack credible plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
“Beijing’s commitment is a cautious step that favours steadiness and delivery over ambition” Li Shuo, an expert at the Asia Society think tank who is well-connected in Beijing, said.
“The good news is that in a world increasingly driven by self-interest, China may be better positioned than most to advance climate action,” he added.
The stated trajectory is similar to the path followed by the United States and the European Union in the decade after their peak emissions but would fall well short of what is needed to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels – the target set by the 2015 Paris Agreement to avoid the worst climate catastrophes.
But by presenting a target well ahead of COP30, the year’s main climate gathering in Belem, Brazil, China signals its ongoing commitment to the international process after the United States departed the Paris agreement for a second time. — AFP
