China avoids big climate commitments ahead of COP26 conference
China will aim to hit peak greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The world’s biggest energy emitter has relesed its climate change blueprint ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
In 2019, the country was repsonsible for 27 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to research from the Rhodium Group.
Its new roadmap includes plans to expand hydropower and energy storage.
From 2025, all new buildings would be constructed to stringer environmental standards, while 40 per cent of vehicles would be powered by clean energy by the end of the decade.
The report did not offer any firm commitments on reducing coal alliance, aside from reaffirming its previously announced targets of net zero carbon emissions by 2060, and capping coal use between 2025-2030.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has been keen to push G20 countries towards a more radical climate agenda.
The task could be made harder by Chinese premier Xi Jingping snubbing the conference, alongside Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Current estimates from the UN Envirionment Programme put the world on track for a 2.7 degree temperaure rises.
This exceeds even the goals of the Paris Agreement, which looked to limit global temperature rises ‘well below’ two degrees, and reach carbon neutrality by 2050.