China, the world’s largest carbon-polluting nation, has announced a new climate goal to cut emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035.

In a video address to the United Nations high-level climate summit on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping told fellow world leaders that the world’s second-largest economy, which has long seen its carbon pollution soar, will finally reduce the emissions of the gases that cause global warming and extreme weather.

More than 100 world leaders gathered to discuss increased urgency and the need for stronger efforts to curb the spewing of heat-trapping gases. With major international climate negotiations scheduled in Brazil just six and a half weeks away, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres convened a special leaders’ summit during the General Assembly to focus on specific plans to curb emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas.

President Xi pledged that China would increase its wind and solar power capacity sixfold from 2020 levels, make pollution-free vehicles mainstream, and essentially establish a climate-adaptive society.

Following China’s announcement, Europe introduced a less detailed and not quite official new climate change plan. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stated that their infrastructure and investment in renewable energy and the price of carbon had all increased, resulting in emissions dropping nearly 40% since 1990. Last week, EU member states agreed that their nationally determined contribution (NDC) would range between 66% and 72%, and that they would formally submit their plan before the November negotiations, she said.

On Wednesday afternoon, President Xi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took thinly veiled swipes at US President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on renewable energy and the concept of climate change.

While some countries are acting against climate action, Xi emphasized, “the international community should stay focused on the right direction.”

President Lula, who is hosting the upcoming climate conference, warned: “No one is safe from the effect of climate change. Walls at borders will not stop droughts or storms. Nature does not bow down to bombs or warships. No country stands above another. All of us may lose because denialism may actually win.”

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underscored the urgency of the moment: “The science demands action. The law commands it. The economics compel it. And people are calling for it.”
https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/china-announces-new-climate-goal-to-cut-emissions-1810805.html