China to unveil UN climate pledges imminently: Li

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang (L) and French Ecology Minister Segolene Royal (R) walk together after his arrival at the Charles De Gaulle airport in Roissy, Suburban Paris on June 29, 2015. - AFP

BRUSSELS, June 29, 2015 (AFP) - China is about to submit its long-awaited national pledges to reduce carbon emissions beyond 2020, ahead of the Paris climate summit, Premier Li Keqiang said Monday.

“By the end of this month, the Chinese side will submit to the UN secretariat on climate change our intended nationally determined contribution,“ Li told a press conference after a summit in Brussels with EU leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker.

There has been speculation that the announcement would be made during Li’s visit this week to Brussels and Paris, where December’s climate talks will be held.

Li starts an official visit to France on Tuesday, the last day of the month.

The world’s number one carbon emitter has yet to put forward its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), as the pledges are called by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Li added after signing an agreement with the EU on the issue: “We are willing to work together with the EU side to jointly tackle the challenges of climate change.”

All countries are meant to propose their targets for cutting emissions ahead of the UN-led talks which are aimed at forging a pact to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial revolution levels, to take effect from 2020.

At a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama in November, Beijing committed for the first time to limiting its greenhouse gas output -- setting a target date of about 2030 for its emissions to peak.