For the first time, the world’s biggest GHG producer has pledged to cut emissions by 7-10% from peak levels – and could even exceed that – but a 30% reduction is the minimum needed to hit the 1.5˚C temperature target.
The commitment falls short of what is believed to be necessary to avoid overshooting the global warming limits enshrined in the Paris Climate Agreement, and China will need to maintain reductions of over 1% each year to hit its target. However, most of the 20+ countries whose emissions have declined for at least the last decade saw it fall at an annual average rate greater than 1%, and there are hopes that China may have once again under-promised and could over-deliver.
In September 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the country was to scale up its Nationally Determined Contributions, promising to reach peak emissions by 2030, while setting goals for renewable energy production. By 2024, China had already reached its renewable energy targets six years ahead of schedule, and recent data appears to show the country reached peak GHG emissions in March 2024.
