{"id":2923,"date":"2025-09-25T05:37:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T05:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/25\/underwhelming-chinas-new-climate-target-falls-far-short-experts-say\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T05:37:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T05:37:25","slug":"underwhelming-chinas-new-climate-target-falls-far-short-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/25\/underwhelming-chinas-new-climate-target-falls-far-short-experts-say\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Underwhelming\u2019: China\u2019s new climate target falls far short, experts say"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>China\u2019s new target for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions has been branded \u201cdisappointing\u201d and \u201cunderwhelming\u201d by climate experts, who warn the pledge falls far short of the action needed to avert climate catastrophe.<\/p>\n<p>But the goal also stirred hopes that China, which until now has only promised to stop emissions from rising, may ultimately be able to deliver much more ambitious cuts amid a massive expansion in the country\u2019s renewable energy capacity.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/fact-check\/2025\/9\/24\/seven-things-to-know-about-trumps-unga-speech\">Seven things to know about Trump\u2019s UNGA speech<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2025\/9\/24\/senegal-gaza-has-become-hell-for-thousands-of\">Senegal: Gaza has \u2018become hell for thousands of souls\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/24\/china-worlds-largest-carbon-polluting-nation-announces-new-climate-goal\">China, world\u2019s largest carbon polluting nation, announces new climate goal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/24\/israel-kills-85-people-in-gaza-despite-calls-for-truce-from-world-leaders\">Israel kills 85 people in Gaza despite calls for truce from world leaders<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>In a video address to the United Nations on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China would lower its emissions by 7-10 percent from their peak by 2035.<\/p>\n<p>It was the first time that China, the world\u2019s biggest polluter, outlined a goal for cutting emissions outright.<\/p>\n<p>Xi, who called the shift away from carbon \u201cthe trend of our time\u201d, also pledged to raise the share of non-fossil fuel sources in energy consumption to more than 30 percent, and increase wind and solar capacity sixfold compared with 2020.<\/p>\n<p>While a significant moment in the global fight against climate change at a time when the United States is abandoning efforts to cut emissions, China\u2019s target fails by some distance to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement, said some analysts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunately very disappointing: This target will not drive down emissions \u2013 it is below what China is likely to achieve already under its current climate policies,\u201d Bill Hare, CEO of Berlin-based policy institute Climate Analytics, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina can do a lot better than this, and it hardly reflects its highest possible ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has estimated that China would need to cut emissions by about 30 percent to be consistent with the Paris accord.<\/p>\n<p>The agreement, adopted by 195 countries in 2015, calls for the rise in the average global temperature to be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s actions on climate are viewed as especially critical following the US\u2019s exit from the Paris accord under President Donald Trump, who used his UN speech this week to call the scientific consensus on climate change the \u201cgreatest con job ever perpetrated on the world\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3980599\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3980599\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25267670975839-1758768765.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C515&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"xi\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3980599\">Chinese President Xi Jinping virtually addresses a climate summit, Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at the UN headquarters [Yuki Iwamura\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cChina\u2019s underwhelming headline target misses a chance to deliver real leadership,\u201d Li Shuo, director of China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeijing is choosing to tiptoe forward when science calls for a full sprint. The pledge would, unfortunately, still put the world on a pathway to catastrophic climate impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Xi\u2019s announcement\u00a0left key questions about the emissions target unanswered, including how Beijing would define peak emissions.<\/p>\n<p>Many climate experts believe that China\u2019s emissions have already peaked or will do so this year, though some observers caution that the trend has\u00a0been driven as much by the decline in business activity during the COVID-19 pandemic as the rollout of renewable energy.<\/p>\n<p>China has had a paradoxical influence on global efforts to address climate change.<\/p>\n<p>While responsible for roughly one-third of global emissions, the country is also a leader in green energy.<\/p>\n<p>China produces about 80 percent of the world\u2019s solar panels and 70 percent of its electric cars, according to\u00a0the International Energy Agency.<\/p>\n<p>The country also manufactures about 60 percent of wind turbines worldwide, according to London-based energy think tank Ember.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3980498\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3980498\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-991792894-1758759956.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C510&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"solar \" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3980498\">Solar panels and wind turbines are pictured on a barren mountain at Shenjing Village on July 2, 2018, in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, China [ VCG via Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At the same time, China has continued to invest heavily in coal.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, construction began on nearly 100 gigawatts (GW) of new or suspended coal power projects, the most in a decade, according to the CREA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina\u2019s new pledge clearly falls short of expectations. Despite President Xi\u2019s earlier promise to strictly control new coal power, the country has just approved more projects than at any point in nearly a decade,\u201d Andreas Sieber, the associate director of policy and campaigns at 350.org, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe targets announced today, which are vague on the base year and conservative on renewables, leave ample room for continued emissions growth from coal-heavy sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, climate experts expressed hope that China\u2019s target could be a\u00a0signal of more transformative change to come.<\/p>\n<p>While China\u2019s announcement fell short of expectations, Beijing has a tendency to set targets that it can \u201cconfidently deliver\u201d, said Yao Zhe, a Beijing-based policy adviser at Greenpeace East Asia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s hopeful is that the actual decarbonisation of China\u2019s economy is likely to exceed its target on paper,\u201d Yao said in a statement responding to the target, adding that her organisation\u2019s latest analysis showed that emissions from China\u2019s power sector could peak this year.<\/p>\n<p>In a world \u201cincreasingly driven by self-interest\u201d, China is in a stronger position than most to spur climate action, the Asia Society\u2019s Li said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe country has emerged as a global clean tech superpower, and its dominant role in this sector could enable it to surpass current targets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver time, this could push China toward a more proactive role on the international stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China\u2019s new target for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions has been branded \u201cdisappointing\u201d and \u201cunderwhelming\u201d by climate experts, who warn the pledge falls far short of the action needed to avert climate catastrophe. But the goal also stirred hopes that China, which until now has only promised to stop emissions from rising, may ultimately be able to &#8230; <a title=\"\u2018Underwhelming\u2019: China\u2019s new climate target falls far short, experts say\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/09\/25\/underwhelming-chinas-new-climate-target-falls-far-short-experts-say\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about \u2018Underwhelming\u2019: China\u2019s new climate target falls far short, experts say\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}