China Played It Safe With First Pledge to Cut Greenhouse Emissions
Other nations have achieved larger declines after reaching peak climate pollution — and the world’s biggest emitter has exceeded its own goals
Solar panels at the Baofeng Agriculture-Photovoltaic Integration Industrial Base in China.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergChina has finally set a goal to slash greenhouse gases from peak levels, using a United Nations climate event on Wednesday to outline its first proposed cuts to planet-warming pollution. The commitment falls short of what scientists estimate is needed to avoid passing the global warming limits enshrined in the Paris Agreement. It’s also less ambitious than cuts achieved by other countries, including Germany and Japan, after their emissions peaked.
But the announcement from Chinese President Xi Jinping in a video appearance at a special UN meeting in New York marks a turning point for the world’s biggest emitter. Previously, Chinese leaders had only pledged to reach peak emissions before 2030 and measured reductions in relation to economic growth. That means with its new climate goal China has committed to join the group of industrialized nations whose emissions are slowly but steadily going down.