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In a consequential move for the global climate, China committed Wednesday to reduce its planet-warming pollution by 7% to 10% from peak levels over the next decade. China's new economy-wide goal takes on outsized importance given the country is both the biggest emitter of global warming pollutants and by far the dominant player in renewable energy around the world.
The goal, announced in a pre-recorded video by Chinese President Xi Jinping at a UN General Assembly climate meeting, falls far short of the 30% cuts the Biden administration had been pressing for. But China's growth in renewable energy manufacturing and domestic deployment mean that it may overachieve — which it has done on previous goals.
Most recently, China gave itself until "around" 2030 to peak its climate pollution. Independent analysis shows it is likely this peak has already happened, five years ahead of schedule, and pollution is now starting to decline.
The international climate goals, while non-binding, provide a road map for climate action between now and 2035 — a critical decade for the world to get global warming under control or risk escalating consequences. China's is arguably the most important; whatever the world's most-polluting country does will determine the planet's climate trajectory.
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📷: Natalie Behring/Bloomberg/Getty Images
