Climate targets: Why Beijing struggles t • Table.Briefings

Ein Bagger kippt Kohle in einen bereit stehenden Laster an der Kaianlage im Hafen von Lianyungang. — China’s dependence on coal stands in the way of an ambitious new climate plan. Equally obstructive: Xi Jinping’s wealth of power and diminishing financial policy leeway.

At the „Third Plenum,“ China named the reduction of CO2 emissions as an important political goal. Politicians are currently negotiating a new climate plan (NDC). The rapid expansion of renewables and reports that CO2 emissions have peaked should not obscure the challenges. Three factors are slowing down China’s climate policy.

China’s new climate plan (NDC) is currently underway, but experts believe it will hardly put the country on the 1.5-degree path. It is true that the government has just named the reduction of CO2 emissions as an important goal for the first time in the final document of the so-called „Third Plenum.“ According to analysts, this is an important sign and „takes China’s fight against climate change to a new level.“ However, the document does not specify any new political goals or measures. China’s climate policy is being held back by

Climate targets: Why Beijing struggles to hit the 1.5-degree pathway despite renewables boom

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