There is something peculiar about the Chinese government that makes its targets very different to those in countries like Britain.
That quirk gives analysts some hope after it’s “timid” announcement on the green transition – and as Donald Trump yesterday condemned climate change as a “hoax”.
The good news is that China has, for the first time, made a commitment to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a landmark moment.
In a video statement to the UN in New York, President Xi Jinping vowed China would cut emissions by 7-10% by 2035, while “striving to do better”.
But it is still “critically short” of the roughly 30% believed to be necessary from the world’s biggest greenhouse gas polluter and clean tech superpower, analysts said.
Juan Manuel Santos, former president of Colombia and chair of The Elders, a group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, said: “China’s latest climate target is too timid given the country’s extraordinary record on clean energy – both at home and through its green partnerships with emerging economies.”
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China also chose not to say when it thinks its emissions will peak – allowing plenty of time for them to keep rising before they then fall.
But here’s why all is not lost – far from it.
In the West, targets are often aspirational. They are knowingly optimistic, sometimes wildly so, because the purpose isn’t necessarily to hit them.
Instead, they are designed to provide some certainty to investors, energy companies, local authorities and so on about where the country is headed, stimulating them all to kick into gear.
