Beijing is finally getting serious about climate change, Hsu co-authors article in Foreign Policy
As the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, China has made a number moves in the past year to reduce emissions and clean up its environment. Most recently, on June 30, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China would reduce its carbon intensity, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of GDP, by 60 to 65 percent of 2005 levels by 2030. The pledge comes ahead of the U.N. climate change summit to be held in Paris later this year. Li also reiterated that renewable energy should make up 20 percent of China’s primary energy supply by the same date. Could Beijing’s announcements signal it is at last getting out in front of China’s pollution problem, or do they reflect a low-balled target that could let polluters off the hook in the coming years? Could the announcement pave the way for greater cooperation between China and the United States, the world’s second-largest emitter? In this ChinaFile conversation, experts discuss.
