Xi Jinping appearing by video link at the United Nations 75th
anniversary is seen on an outdoor screen as pedestrians walk past
below in Beijing on September 22, 2020. GREG BAKER /
AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed Tuesday that the
world’s largest greenhouse gas polluter will peak emissions in 2030
and go carbon neutral by 2060, in what environmentalists hailed as
a major step forward.
The goals were the most concrete yet announced by China, which
accounts for one-quarter of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions
blamed for fast-rising temperatures.
In an address to the UN General Assembly, Xi renewed his support
for the Paris climate accord and called for a green focus as the
world recovers from the Covid-19 crisis.
The Paris accord “outlines the minimum steps to be taken to
protect the Earth, our shared homeland, and all countries must take
decisive steps to honor this agreement,” Xi said in a virtual
address.
“We aim to have C02 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve
carbon neutrality before 2060,” he said.
“We call on all countries to pursue innovative, coordinated,
green and open development for all,” he said urging them to “seize
the historic opportunities presented by the new round of scientific
and technological revolution and industrial transformation.”
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China, in its submission under the Paris accord, said that its
emissions would peak “around” 2030.
The European Union had been pushing China to be more ambitious
by moving the peak date to 2025, arguing that the five years are
crucial as the planet falls behind in fighting climate change.
Joeri Rogelj, a climate expert at Imperial College London’s
Grantham Institute, called Xi’s pledge “unexpected and
eye-opening.”
“All in all, China’s announcement is a defining moment that
resets the ambition of global climate action,” he said.
Faced with poor air quality and rising temperatures, China has
moved aggressively to cap coal and move to renewable energies.
The national effort contrasts with the United States, where
President Donald Trump has pulled out of the Paris accord
negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama.
Trump called the accord unfair to coal miners and other
constituencies, although individual US states such as California
have kept up their own ambition.
AFP