- Messages
- 10,173
- Reaction score
- 3,596
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Lothier
- Country Flag
- Belgium - Brussels
- Ethnic group
- Italo-celto-germanic
This is great news. To put this in perspective, the EU, Canada, South Korea and many other countries aim to become climate-neutral by 2050, but the USA hasn't set any deadline yet. Within the EU some countries plan to reach carbon neutrality earlier, such as Finland (in 2035), Austria (in 2040), Iceland (in 2040) and Sweden (in 2045). The website Climate Action Tracker rates the US's commitment to fighting climate change critically insufficient - the only developed country in that category. In fact, India, China, Indoesnia and most Latin American countries do better than the US in this regard.
BBC News: Climate change: China aims for 'carbon neutrality by 2060'
"With global climate negotiations stalled and this year's conference of the parties (COP26) postponed until 2021, there had been little expectation of progress on the issue at the UN General Assembly.
However China's president surprised the UN gathering by making a bold statement about his country's plans for tackling emissions.
He called on all countries to achieve a green recovery for the world economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the official translation, Mr Xi went on to say:
"We aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060."
Until now China has said it would peak its emissions by 2030 at the latest, but it has avoided committing to a long-term goal.
[...]
"By playing the climate card a little differently, Xi has not only injected much needed momentum to global climate politics, but presented an intriguing geopolitical question in front of the world: on a global common issue, China has moved ahead regardless of the US. Will Washington follow?"
[...]
"Today's announcement by President Xi Jinping that China intends to reach carbon neutrality before 2060 is big and important news - the closer to 2050 the better," said former US climate envoy Todd Stern."
BBC News: Climate change: China aims for 'carbon neutrality by 2060'
"With global climate negotiations stalled and this year's conference of the parties (COP26) postponed until 2021, there had been little expectation of progress on the issue at the UN General Assembly.
However China's president surprised the UN gathering by making a bold statement about his country's plans for tackling emissions.
He called on all countries to achieve a green recovery for the world economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the official translation, Mr Xi went on to say:
"We aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060."
Until now China has said it would peak its emissions by 2030 at the latest, but it has avoided committing to a long-term goal.
[...]
"By playing the climate card a little differently, Xi has not only injected much needed momentum to global climate politics, but presented an intriguing geopolitical question in front of the world: on a global common issue, China has moved ahead regardless of the US. Will Washington follow?"
[...]
"Today's announcement by President Xi Jinping that China intends to reach carbon neutrality before 2060 is big and important news - the closer to 2050 the better," said former US climate envoy Todd Stern."