Xi Jinping’s pledge to cut China’s carbon emissions raises questions over whether Beijing is moving quickly enough
- The Chinese leader has committed to cutting greenhouse gases by 2030 but has been urged to speed up the process
- Xi has previously pledged to make the country carbon neutral by 2060 but the country is currently building more coal plants
President Xi Jinping’s latest climate pledges, including a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by over 65 per cent and boosting the use of non-fossil fuels, have been greeted with caution by environmental observers who question whether they go far enough.
On Saturday, Xi told the Climate Ambition Summit that by 2030 China would cut emissions per unit of GDP by “at least” 65 per cent compared with 2005 levels, a slight increase on an earlier pledge to cut them by “up to” 65 per cent.
He also said the country would raise the amount of energy generated by non-fossil fuels from 20 per cent to 25 per cent.
Xi also committed to increasing its forest cover by 6 billion cubic square meters and increasing China’s wind and solar energy capability to at least 1.2 billion kilowatts in the next decade.
The official Xinhua news agency published a commentary on Saturday hailing China’s new commitments as a display of “ambition and determination from a big global power”.
