World should stay focussed on delivering global climate goals despite US opposition: Xi Jinping

Beijing, Sept 25 (PTI) Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that the world should stay focused on delivering the climate goals and NDCs despite the US opposition as he announced China's new target to cut emissions by 7 to 10 per cent by 2035.

"China will, by 2035, reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 per cent to 10 per cent from peak levels, striving to do better," Xi said in a video address to the UN Climate Summit in New York on Wednesday.

China is the largest carbon polluting nation, followed by the US.

Xi said China will increase the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to over 30 per cent, expand the installed capacity of wind and solar power to over six times the 2020 levels, scale up the total forest stock volume to over 24 billion cubic meters and make new energy vehicles the mainstream in the sales of new vehicles.

"Green and low-carbon transition is the trend of the time. While some country is acting against it, the international community should stay focused on the right direction,” Xi said, without directly naming the US.

He said the global community should also "remain unwavering in confidence, unremitting in actions and unrelenting in intensity, and push for formulation and delivery on NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) with a view to providing more positive energy to the cooperation on global climate governance." Xi's comments followed US President Donald Trump's address to the UNGA two days ago, during which he decried climate change, calling it the "greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world", and refuted the use of renewable energy.

"The entire globalist concept, asking successful industrialised nations to inflict pain on themselves and radically disrupt their entire societies, must be rejected completely and totally," Trump said.

Soon after he came to power for his second tenure in January, Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, leaving the global efforts to combat the adverse effects of climate change in flux.

Xi’s latest pledge to cut carbon emissions and his criticism of the US were seen as an attempt by Beijing to seize the leadership of the countries of the Global South, which are grappling with deteriorating climate change effects.   For its part, China is investing heavily in climate-friendly technologies, including ramping up hydro-power by building the world’s largest dam in Tibet over Brahmaputra which aims to produce 300 billion kWh of electricity every year, besides expanding solar and wind energy backed by massive promotion of E-vehicles and AI technologies.  China’s latest emission pledge comes on top of a previous promise to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 – a goal that appears to be on track as per China’s own statistics.

The country also has a goal to be carbon neutral by 2060, which covers various greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

China remains the world's top polluter and is responsible for 30 per cent of global emissions. However, the latest climate-related plans are aimed at promoting and adopting clean and renewable energy production, according to the Post.

The country has also invested in climate and new energy-related projects across Southeast Asia, South America and Africa, with Xi’s new emission reduction goal receiving recognition from other major countries in these regions.  In his address, Xi called for living up to responsibilities. "Fairness and equity should be upheld and the right to development of developing countries fully respected," he said.

The global green transition should serve to narrow rather than widen the North-South gap. Countries need to honour the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, whereby developed countries should take the lead in fulfilling emission reduction obligations and provide more financial and technological support to developing countries, he added.

He also said that international coordination in green technologies and industries should be strengthened to address the shortfall in green production capacity and ensure the free flow of quality green products globally, so that the benefits of green development can reach all corners of the world. PTI KJV ZH ZH