U.S. climate summit: Another chance for China, U.S. after Alaska talks

CGTN | 22-Apr-2021 | By Duan Fengyuan

While the memory of the China-U.S. Alaska talks in March is still fresh, another opportunity for the two countries is around the corner as Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a U.S.-led virtual climate summit at the invitation of his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden on Thursday.

And expectations for the two states to make a breakthrough in climate cooperation is getting higher, especially after a recently released joint statement, which says the two will make joint efforts to implement the Paris Climate Agreement.

What is the basis for cooperation?

The expectation is not based on a castle in the air but a common request from both sides. China, the world’s largest developing country with a population of 1.4 billion, has pledged to hit peak emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060, while the U.S. has announced a goal of reaching net-zero emissions no later than 2050.  In his video address to the General Debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2020, Xi announced that China aims to “have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.”

While addressing the Climate Ambition Summit via video link in December last year, Xi announced that by 2030, China aims to lower its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by over 65 percent from the 2005 level and increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 25 percent.