Smoke billows from a coal-fired power station in Datong in the heart of Shanxi Province's coal country. China on Wednesday committed to slashing emissions from burning fossil fuels by 7%-10% by 2035, the first such pledge it has ever made. File photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo
Sept. 25 (UPI) -- China has pledged to cut the volume of greenhouse gases it pumps into the atmosphere by between 7% and 10% over the next decade and work to do even better, the first time the world's number one emitter of climate-warming carbon has made any such commitment.
President Xi Jinping made the pledge in a video message to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, promising that the world's second-largest economy would reduce emissions while at the same time "striving to do better."
Xi said China would make the cuts by ramping up solar, wind and hydropower to meet 30% of its electricity needs by 2030 and making EVs "the mainstream in the sales of new vehicles."
The announcement came just weeks before leaders of the biggest economies will join the leaders and senior officials from around 190 nations for the COP30 in Brazil, where they will submit their five-yearly climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions, as required by the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
