China has announced that it will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 10% and increase renewable energy capacity six-fold within a decade. About twice that level is estimated to be needed to meet the Paris accord objective of limiting the average global temperature rise to 1.5C above the pre-industrial level.
Setting an official target to reduce emissions is no doubt a good thing, particularly for the world’s largest polluter, but it also feels a little like they are playing with numbers. Up to 10% is not a concrete target, and the time-scale coincides with China’s current dual-carbon goals of peaking emissions in 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, in the early years of which the country has been continuously adding coal-fired power capacity to help meet the country’s booming energy usage.
The other relevant issue here is that, due to the uncertainty of the geopolitical situation, the expansion of green energy is a part of China’s greater goal of strategic self-sufficiency in areas such as energy and food.