China’s rapid industrialisation has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and transformed the country into the world’s factory floor. It has also made China the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas driving climate change.

President Xi Jinping has pledged to fix that and have China become “carbon neutral” by 2060 – an especially challenging target given its emissions are still rising.

While the country has been pouring money into renewable energy, a widespread power crunch late in 2021 prompted it to redirect support to polluting fossil fuels, illustrating the difficulty of balancing long-term climate goals and short-term energy security.

WHAT IS CARBON NEUTRAL?
It means cutting as much of your carbon dioxide emissions as possible and then offsetting what you cannot eliminate.

For a country, this could mean switching to renewable energy such as solar power instead of coal and investing in projects that absorb carbon dioxide, such as reforestation.

Carbon neutral, or net zero, has become a goal of companies and countries alike to address public concerns about the impact emissions have on the climate.

WHY DID CHINA MAKE THE PLEDGE?
For starters, it has to after joining the Paris Agreement – the international effort to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels, and preferably under 1.5 degrees Celsius.

China also increasingly wants to demonstrate global leadership and is proud of its expertise – from the development of renewable energy to forest conservation. As China’s relationship with the West has deteriorated on issues from trade to human rights, climate is one of the few remaining areas where the two sides try to cooperate.

At the United Nations General Assembly in September, Xi announced China will stop building coal-fired power plants in other countries.

There is also a domestic political element, as the Communist Party has sought to be seen as responsive to public concerns about environmental issues such as air pollution and flooding to preserve social stability.

WHAT IS THE TIMELINE?
Even though China is the world’s second-largest economy, it is still classified as a developing nation and has not reached its emissions peak. That is forecast to come by 2030. The 2060 target is 10 years after the US deadline.

But if China pulls it off, it would be the fastest decline from peak among major economies – just 30 years compared to a target of 70 for Europe and 40 for the US.

Some countries, including the US and the UK, have been pushing China to be even more ambitious, but China has pushed back, pointing out that developed countries, which are responsible for the bulk of the greenhouse gases that have accumulated in the atmosphere, are struggling to meet their own climate targets.

Read more in Channel New Asia