Promise was made by President Xi Jinping at the UN
Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to reduce carbon emissions and achieve “carbon neutrality” before 2060. China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, but has taken over before the United Nations (UN), on this Tuesday (22), a bold climate agenda.
At the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly, Xi Jinping said that China intends to adopt much stricter climate targets and even achieve “carbon neutrality before 2060”. Reducing the emission of polluting gases such as carbon can be a way of putting pressure on the United States, but it can be crucial in combating climate change.
In a videoconference of the UN General Assembly, the Chinese president renewed his support for the Paris Climate Agreement and called for the world to focus on protecting the environment when it overcomes the covid-19 pandemic.
“Our goal is to reach the peak of CO² emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060”, said the Chinese president in a speech, adding that the pandemic has shown that the world needs to change. So China decided to speed up the process that Xi Jinping called a “green revolution”.
“Humanity cannot indefinitely ignore the warnings of nature and follow the traditional path of resource extraction without investing in conservation, development at the expense of protection and exploiting resources without restoration,” said Xi Jinping, recalling that the Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, it was the “minimum” necessary to protect the Earth, and therefore “all countries must take decisive steps to fulfill it”. He also called on countries to “achieve a green recovery of the world economy in the post-covid era”.
“We call on all countries to seek innovative, coordinated, green and open development for all,” he said, suggesting that nations “seize the historic opportunities presented by a new stage in the scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation”.
If confirmed, the Chinese target will be crucial to the success of global climate goals, mainly to keep the global average temperature below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, closed in the Paris Agreement of 2015.
This is already considered China’s biggest commitment to fighting climate change, according to the New York Times, and could put pressure on US President Donald Trump, who considers global warming to be a “scam”.
China’s emissions fell dramatically during the imposed confinement due to covid-19 earlier in the year, but local emissions in many cities have returned to normal levels since activities resumed. However, it must be remembered that for China to recover and accelerate economic growth, the number of coal projects and polluting industries has increased, which has raised concerns among environmentalists and the international community.
