China is aiming for a historic climate emissions cut

China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, announced a new landmark goal to cut carbon emissions at the UN’s high-level climate summit on Wednesday.

President Xi Jinping’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions by 7%–10% by 2035 represents the first-ever pledge from Beijing to cut emissions, rather than just limiting their pace of growth.

• China was responsible for ~31% of the world’s CO2 emissions in 2022, tops among all countries, per the most recent international data.
• However, on a per-capita basis, China ranked 25th globally.

Other countries also joined in

The EU followed Beijing’s commitment with a more tentative plan to fight climate change that involves member states agreeing to emissions cuts ranging from 66% to 72%.

• All told, about 100 nations—collectively responsible for ~67% of the world’s emissions—gave some kind of plan or commitment to further curb fossil fuel emissions and fight climate change, according to UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed.
• These pledges, submitted every five years, are a key part of the landmark 2016 Paris Agreement under which nearly 200 countries agreed to take steps to limit climate change.

However, some experts say these new emissions targets are far too weak to stave off global catastrophe due to climate change, with China’s official target in particular coming in much lower than the 30% emissions cut some analysts say is necessary.

The US is taking a different approach

President Trump earlier this week used part of his UN General Assembly speech to call climate change a "con job" and its scientists “stupid,” along with criticizing EU member states and China for their investments in clean energy technologies.

• Trump has already pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement during both of his presidential terms—most recently on his first day in office this past January.
• Some analysts also say that his speech this week is the official sign that the US has ceded the green energy market to China in favor of fossil fuels.

Big picture: A new report by the Stockholm Environment Institute found governments around the world are on track to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be necessary to keep to the 1.5°C global warming limit set out in the Paris Agreement.

Looking ahead…The climate change pledges announced this week will be officially submitted at the 30th UN Climate Change Conference, set for Nov. 10–Nov. 21 in Brazil.

📊 Flash poll: Which of the following best describes your opinion of the threat posed by climate change?

• It’s a major threat
• It’s a minor threat
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