A pledge by China to be carbon neutral by 2060 has revived hopes in Beijing’s commitment to global climate change goals but left unanswered questions over how the world’s largest emitter can achieve the ambitious target.
The declaration by Xi Jinping, China’s president, at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday — after Donald Trump had earlier criticised Beijing’s environmental record — has been hailed as a major step forward in international negotiations over how to slow global warming.
“It shows real leadership, not just a zero-sum back-and-forth over who does what first,” said Dimitri de Boer, chief China representative of ClientEarth, a non-governmental organisation focused on environmental law.