Beijing plays a climate Trump
UNITED NATIONS: Chinese President Xi Jinping moved to seize the climate agenda from the US, vowing that the world’ s largest polluter will go carbon neutral by 2060, a target hailed by environmental activists as a major st ride forward.
The goals, which included a pledge to reach peak emissions in 2030, are the most concrete yet by China, which accounts for one quarter of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Speaking to the UN General Assembly, Mr Xi renewed his support for the Paris climate accord and called for a green focus as the world re covers from the C OVID -19 crisis.
Under President Donald Trump the US — the world’s second largest polluter — has pulled out of the agreement, blaming China for the stalled momentum on emissions.
But in his speech, Mr Xi set China out as a climate leader, saying 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 honour this agreement”.
“We aim to have C02 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060,” he said in a virtual address.
Mr Xi urged all nations to “seize the historic opportunities presented by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation”. But China’s leader did not immediately put meat on the bones of his commitment.
The Paris climate deal commits nations to limit global temperature rises to “well below” 2C from pre-industrial levels through a rapid and sweeping draw down of greenhouse gas emissions.
Joeri Rogelj, a climate expert at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute, called Xi’s pledge “unexpected and eye-opening”.
However the 2060 objective is still less ambitious than the 2050 date set by dozens of small states as well as European powers.
Mr Xi’s tone contrasted sharply with that of Mr Trump, who called the Paris accord negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama unfair to the US.
Mr Trump says he is standing up for US constituencies such as coal miners and has loosened environmental rules, although individual US states such as California have insisted on fighting climate change on their own.
“Those who attack America’s exceptional environmental record while ignoring China’s rampant pollution are not interested in the environment ,” Mr Trump said in a UN speech shortly before Mr Xi spoke. “They only want to punish America, and I will not stand for it.”