China’s 2030-2035 Climate Targets: A Renewed Ambition

China, as a signatory to the Paris Agreement, is preparing to unveil its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for 2030 and 2035 in 2025. This announcement, made by Xie Zhenhua, China’s special envoy for climate, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, underlines China’s ongoing commitment to the fight against climate change. NDCs are essential for measuring countries’ progress in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

China’s current and future objectives

China is currently aiming to achieve peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. These ambitious targets are backed up by concrete measures, such as reducing carbon intensity by over 65% by 2030 compared with 2005 levels, and increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 25% by 2030. In addition, China plans to increase installed wind and solar power capacity to over 1,200 GW by 2030.

International Cooperation and the Clean Energy Industry

The Chinese delegation at COP28 clearly expressed its desire to strengthen cooperation in the clean energy industries. The aim is to maintain China’s dominance in key sectors such as solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, electric vehicles and hydrogen electrolysers. These markets are crucial for China in the face of growing competition, not least because of US and EU policies aimed at diversifying supply chains, supporting domestic production and reducing dependence on Chinese exports.

International Challenges and Expectations

For the 2030 and 2035 targets, the developed economies are calling on China to draw up a plan to reduce energy production from unprocessed coal, contribute more to climate funds and reform its carbon market into a stricter system with an absolute cap and higher prices. These expectations reflect the growing international pressure on China to take tougher action against climate change.

China’s Current Progress and Statistics

China has already made significant progress in reducing its carbon intensity, with a 51% drop from 2005 levels, as Ding Xuexiang, China’s Vice Premier, pointed out. What’s more, more than half of the country’s energy production now comes from non-fossil sources. However, coal-fired capacity almost doubled in one year, reaching 9 GW in the third quarter, while solar capacity increased by 24.3 GW, wind by 10.5 GW and hydro by 2.5 GW.

Implications for the future

China’s climate targets for 2030 and 2035 are crucial not only for the country, but also for the global effort to combat climate change. Achieving them will depend on striking the right balance between economic growth, energy security and environmental responsibility. How China reconciles these aspects will have a significant impact on global climate dynamics.

China’s climate commitments for 2030 and 2035 represent an important milestone in global climate policy. As the country progresses towards its targets, the world is watching closely, hoping that these efforts will make a significant contribution to the fight against climate change.