The chances of a
successful global climate agreement received a major boost today as
China submitted ambitious plans to cut its emissions, said Christian
Aid.
By committing to peak its emissions by around 2030, increase
it’s already growing renewable energy capacity to 20 per cent by the
same date and reduce its carbon intensity by up to 65 per cent, China
joins the wave of countries outlining their climate pledges ahead of
December’s UN summit in Paris.
Christian Aid’s Senior Climate
Change Advisor, Mohamed Adow, said “this is a huge step forward. China’s
actions show just what a new political landscape we are now in”.
China and the USA were criticized for holding back progress back in 2009 before the failed talks in Copenhagen.
“Now
China is leading the way. It shows that China is starting to do its
bit. This is a new era for climate politics,” stated Mr. Adow.
The
Paris agreement will be made up of the national pledges as in the
Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). With China’s now
on the table we have more than half of the world’s emissions covered.
“By
cutting its carbon intensity by 60-65 per cent by 2030 is getting close
to the sort of commitments we will need to keep global temperature
rises to below 2 degrees,” said Mr. Adow. “Its commitment to scaling up
renewables to 20 per cent of total output is particularly encouraging.
It will soon deploy nearly as much renewable power alone as the total US
energy sector. It’s a game changer.
China’s pledge marks a
significant shift away from a fossil fuel intensive development path to
one focused on renewables on a scale the world has never yet seen.
“With
developing countries like China moving in a bold direction towards a
low carbon future, developed countries should be willing to do the same
if they want to reap the benefits of being in the vanguard of the
transition to new, cleaner, energy sources. As well as reducing their
fossil fuel dependence, rich countries should also help the poorest
countries tap into their own renewable power potential, leapfrogging
dirty energy like coal and reducing global emissions in the process.”
