Chinese bureaucrats set to act on tough climate plans

  • Date: 09-Mar-2021
  • Source: Gulf Today
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Middle East
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Chinese bureaucrats set to act on tough climate plans

Slowing global warming comes down to cutting emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. There are different ways to get there, but a country's policies flow from that top-level target. China, the world's biggest polluter, fell short when it unveiled its goal for the next five years. The world's second-biggest economy said Friday it plans to lower emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 18% by 2025 “” the same level it targeted in the previous five-plan. The lack of new ambition was conspicuous after President Xi Jinping won international praise in September for pledging to get China to net zero by 2060. The new targets were in line with where current trends show China is heading anyway. Plans to get a fifth of the country's energy from non-fossil fuel sources by 2025 would mean growing its wind and solar generation by an average of 12% a year, about the same rate US installations increased under former President Donald Trump, who actively opposed green energy. The policies may get China to peak emissions by 2030, which is its pledge under the Paris agreement. But that isn't enough to help the rest of the world slow global warming in time, according to