China Sets Modest Emissions Target at UN Climate Summit Amid Global Scrutiny

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a video address at the United Nations climate summit in New York, unveiling China’s new emissions reduction commitment. By 2035, China pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions by between 7 and 10 percent from their peak levels. The announcement has stirred debate among experts and policymakers, with widespread agreement that this target remains significantly below what is required to avert severe global climate impacts.

As the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter and second-biggest economy, China’s climate policies have a major influence on international efforts to keep temperature rises within relatively safe limits. The newly announced cuts are a far cry from the 30 percent reduction that climate specialists say is achievable and essential for a pathway compatible with existing climate agreements.

President Xi’s speech, delivered to an audience of world leaders, included a veiled critique of nations lagging in climate ambition. He emphasised the need for international focus on consistent direction and responsibility, as well as respecting the rights of developing nations. President Donald Trump, notable for dismissing climate concerns in his own prior address, was absent from the summit, leaving the contrast in approaches particularly stark.

Reactions to China’s announcement were mixed. Kaysie Brown, climate diplomacy expert at E3G, observed that the 2035 target is not in line with either China’s stated decarbonisation trajectory or its 2060 carbon neutrality goal. The risk, according to Brown, is that weak near-term ambition could undermine China’s credibility in global climate leadership and cause uncertainty in markets and diplomacy.

Some climate observers note that China has a history of setting modest public targets only to exceed them in practice. With recent clean energy investments of 625 billion US dollars—representing 31 percent of the global total—China has been instrumental in lowering the global cost of renewables and driving the adoption of electric vehicle and battery technology. The country’s trajectory continues to displace coal at home, even as new coal-fired plants remain under development due to powerful domestic interests.

China’s national plan, part of its nationally determined contribution under the Paris agreement, also sets out to raise the share of non-fossil fuels above 30 percent of energy consumption and to expand wind and solar capacity to 3600GW by 2035. While the pace of emissions improvements will shape discussions at the forthcoming COP30 summit in Brazil, current commitments leave a substantial gap when measured against the cuts required to maintain global warming below 1.5C. Attention now turns to whether China and other nations can deliver more robust action to meet the Paris agreement’s goals and address the global climate crisis.