China to release updated climate plans 'in near future' Envoy
China's climate envoy on Tuesday (Aug 3) said the world's most populous nation would release its updated plans to reduce carbon emissions "in the near future" as nations prepare to meet later this year for a pivotal global conference. Climate negotiators from 196 countries and the European Union as well as businesses, experts and world leaders will gather in Glasgow in November for the COP26 summit.
The meeting is the crucial next step in getting the world's nations to agree to the kind of reduction in carbon emissions needed to stave off catastrophic climate change. Under the Paris Agreement, countries are meant to have submitted updated 2030 climate targets ahead of COP26. But nearly half have yet to do so, including key global emitters like China and India.
On Tuesday, China's top climate negotiator said Beijing's updated plans would soon be released, potentially before the Glasgow meet. "In the near future relevant policy papers will be out there, there will be detailed implementation plans," Xie Zhenhua told an online webinar organized.
by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. "Then we're going to talk about that support to the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow," he added, according to a simultaneous English translation of his speech.
The United Nations is pushing for a global coalition committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 which will cover all countries. China has said it will aim for carbon neutrality by 2060.The 2015 Paris Agreement adopted a collective promise to cap the planet's rising surface temperature at "well below" two degrees Celsius and an inspirational limit on 1.5 degrees.
