Climate Change > China pledges a reduction in greenhouse gasses for the first time ever

 

China sets target to cut greenhouse gas emissions for first time

By Paul Godfrey

   

Smoke billows from a coal-fired power station in Datong in the heart of Shanxi Province's coal country. China on Wednesday committed to slashing emissions from burning fossil fuels by 7%-10% by 2035, the first such pledge it has ever made. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 25 (UPI) -- China has pledged to cut the volume of greenhouse gases it pumps into the atmosphere by between 7% and 10% over the next decade and work to do even better, the first time the world's number one emitter of climate-warming carbon has made any such commitment.

If they succeed in reaching that goal, southwest British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest can expect a reduction in rainfall/snowfall in the order of 2-4%, in my humble estimation. 

President Xi Jinping made the pledge in a video message to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, promising that the world's second-largest economy would reduce emissions while at the same time "striving to do better."

Xi said China would make the cuts by ramping up solar, wind and hydropower to meet 30% of its electricity needs by 2030 and making EVs "the mainstream in the sales of new vehicles."

The announcement came just weeks before leaders of the biggest economies will join the leaders and senior officials from around 190 nations for the COP30 in Brazil, where they will submit their five-yearly climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions, as required by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

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The agreement called for peak emissions before 2025, followed by a collective 43% cut in emissions by 2030 in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Environmental groups expressed disappointment with what they said was the lack of ambition in Xi's commitment.

"Even for those with tempered expectations, what's presented today still falls short," said Greenpeace East Asia global policy adviser Yao Zhe.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the move but said it did not go far enough.

"It is good that there is progress being made, we would like there to be more. We would like to see them do more and we would like to see no new coal-fired plants open. But it is a step forward," said Albanese.

However, Xi's commitment was in contrast to U.S. President Donald Trump's message delivered in person a day earlier, in which he dismissed climate change as the "greatest con job ever" and touted efforts to push back on the United States' existing commitments, such as his administration's drive to use more "clean, beautiful coal."

Trump also took aim at efforts on the other side of the Atlantic to transition to renewable power, saying their "suicidal energy ideas will be the death of western Europe if something is not done immediately."

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