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 U.S. installations increased under former President Donald Trump, who actively opposed green energy.
Renewables Roar
China’s solar and wind capacity are expected to surge in coming years
Source: BloombergNEF forecasts
China has so far resisted setting an absolute limit on emissions, choosing instead to set targets as a share of growth. After all, it’s still growing at multiple times the rate of developed countries such as the U.S., and emissions will probably continue to rise considerably. China was the only major economy to grow in 2020 after quickly containing the coronavirus outbreak, and accounts for about 30% of global emissions.