The U.S. said that it would reduce its emissions by a range of between 26 percent and 28 percent by 2025 from its 2005 levels. A target which the U.S. said is in line with their economy-wide reductions of 80 percent by 2050.
The Governments of the United States and China have announced that they will be making huge emissions reduction cuts in the future.
The two largest economies, as well as the two biggest greenhouse gas emitters, have announced their goal of considerable reductions in their emissions within a post-2020 framework.
The U.S. said that it would reduce its emissions by a range of between 26 percent and 28 percent by 2025 from its 2005 levels. A target which the U.S. said is in line with their economy-wide reductions of 80 percent by 2050.
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China, on the other hand, said that it aims for a 20 percent clean energy share by 2030 and that it would try and peak its carbon dioxide emissions on the same year. In addition to reducing emissions, China also has plans of installing up to 1,000 gigawatts of zero-emissions energy by 2030.
The joint announcement of the two countries is the culmination of months of bilateral dialogue and is expected to inject momentum into the global climate negotiations on the road to reaching a successful new climate agreement next year in Paris.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the joint announcement, pointing out that it was a “significant and timely announcement” by U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The U.N. chief also thanked the two leaders for their “personal commitment to work together to remove any impediments to reaching an agreement in Paris.”
“China and the United States have demonstrated the leadership that the world expects of them,” said Mr. Ban. “This leadership demonstrated by the Governments of the world’s two largest economies will give the international community an unprecedented chance to succeed at reaching a meaningful, universal agreement in 2015.”
“We have a year before the global climate negotiations in Paris, and that year just got off to a good start,” said World Wide Fund for Nature’s Global Climate and Energy Initiative leader Samantha Smith. “But these new targets from China and the U.S. must be seen as opening bids in the negotiations, rather than final numbers. Both climate science and equity require more action.”
W.W.F.-China Chief Executive Officer Sze Ping Lo applauded the announcement made. “Leaders from the major economies are responding to the people’s voices at the U.N. Climate Summit in New York (see related story) and the latest climate science of the I.P.C.C. (see related story). This should encourage all other major emitters and U.N.F.C.C.C. parties to announce their emissions reductions targets and finance commitments early next year.” – L. Polintan
