Cop28: China firm on new carbon targets for 2030 and 2035, calls for global effort to cut methane emissions
- Beijing ‘attaches great importance’ to Cop28 decision to have 2035 carbon goals laid out within two years, climate envoy Xie Zhenhua says in Dubai
- On methane emissions, Xie says China is ‘willing to act’ but still lacks the capabilities, as he calls for global joint efforts
“After this meeting, each country needs to propose its 2035 contribution goals by 2025. The Chinese government also attaches great importance to this matter,” Xie said in Dubai on Friday, according to state-backed China News Service.
China has already pledged to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions before 2060.
Xie called for more technical innovation to meet the global warming control targets laid down in the Paris agreement, referring to the 2015 treaty among 196 countries to limit warming from pre-industrial levels.
He also said developed countries should contribute more to a loss-and-damage fund announced last year to compensate poorer countries facing the damaging effects of climate change.
More than 195 nations attending the Cop28 in Dubai agreed to get the fund rolling in a landmark move on the conference’s opening day on Thursday.
The initial funding will be almost US$475 million, with host country the United Arab Emirates pledging US$100 million and the European Union US$275 million. The United States will contribute US$17.5 million while US$10 million will come from Japan.
Xie also called for global joint efforts to control the emissions of methane, which has more than 80 times the ability of carbon dioxide to trap heat in the atmosphere, and is behind more than a quarter of global warming.
Methane emissions hole in climate change models puts targets at risk: scientists
At a panel discussion on methane and other non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases on Saturday, Xie said China, as a developing country, faced difficulties and risks in controlling methane emissions.
“China’s work on methane emission control started late and has a weak foundation. The data is unclear with insufficient statistical accounting and monitoring capabilities. The regulatory regime, including rules, standards and policies, is imperfect,” he said.
“The task of controlling methane and other non-carbon dioxide gases in China is not easy and cannot be achieved overnight. It requires long-term arduous efforts, extensive foundational work and capacity building.
“I believe that many developing countries are in the same situation as us. We are willing to act, but we still lack the capabilities, and we need to continue to work hard and strengthen this area through international cooperation.”
International Energy Agency estimates indicate that methane has been responsible for around 30 per cent of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution. Rapid and sustained reductions in methane emissions are regarded as key to limiting near-term global warming and improving air quality.
China is by far the biggest methane emitter with more than 14 per cent of the global total. It has not joined a 2021 US-led action plan to cut methane output by 30 per cent by 2030. Neighbours and fellow big polluters India and Russia have not joined either.
An action plan published by Beijing on November 7 to tackle methane emissions did not include firm targets for emission cuts beyond reusing the gas as fuel.
However, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment plan does aim to curb “flaring”, or burning off emissions at oil and gas wells, and for methane leaks at coal mines to be closed up.
China and the US have pledged to work together to reduce global methane emissions, as part of a deal to jointly tackle climate change reached by Xie and his US counterpart John Kerry in San Francisco on November 14.
