China took the lead on global climate action on Wednesday, announcing its first-ever plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 7%-10% from peak levels by 2035. In a live video address to a climate leaders’ summit hosted by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, President Xi Jinping also pledged to expand wind and solar capacity sixfold from 2020 levels, increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in China’s energy mix to over 30%.
Xi’s remarks included a veiled criticism of the United States, following President Donald Trump’s U.N. General Assembly speech dismissing climate change as a “con job” and criticizing clean energy efforts. “Green and low-carbon transformation is the trend of our times. Despite some countries going against the trend, the international community should stay on the right track,” Xi said, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
While China’s announcement marks the first time the world’s largest emitter has pledged an actual reduction in emissions rather than just limiting growth, experts say the target falls short of what is needed to align with global warming limits. Ian Bremmer, political scientist at the Belfer Center, noted that Trump’s climate denial has effectively ceded the market for post-carbon energy to China, giving Beijing a potential geopolitical advantage.
Global climate observers also criticized other major economies for insufficient action ahead of the COP30 summit in Brazil. Brazil plans to cut emissions by 59%-67% by 2035, while the EU is drafting new 2035 targets of 66%-72% reductions. Australia pledged a 62%-70% cut below 2005 levels, and Palau, representing small island states, set a goal of reducing emissions to 44% of 2015 levels.
U.N. Secretary-General Guterres stressed that while progress has been made, the world is still far from limiting global warming to 1.5°C. “We need new plans for 2035 that go much further, much faster,” he said.