China has outlined a plan to hit peak greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, releasing a long-awaited blueprint just days ahead of the UN’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
The world’s biggest energy consumer was the latest country to launch new climate policies ahead of COP26. Australia also set net zero emissions goals on Tuesday, following another laggard, Saudi Arabia, at the weekend. Those plans rely on the continued production of fossil fuels.
They joined the dozens of other countries that have formed new climate pledges in the summit run-up, in the effort to limit global warming to below 2C since pre-industrial times, or ideally 1.5c.