UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping says his country will aim to stop adding to the global warming problem by 2060.
Xi’s announcement during a speech Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly is a significant step for the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Calling for a “green revolution,” Xi said the coronavirus pandemic had shown the need to preserve the environment.
“Humankind can no longer afford to ignore the repeated warnings of nature,” he said.
Citing the Paris Agreement that he and former U.S. President Barack Obama helped forge in 2015, Xi said his country would raise its emissions reduction targets with “vigorous policies and measures.”
“We aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060,” he said.
The term “carbon neutrality” means releasing no additional CO2 into the atmosphere, though technically it allows countries to keep emitting if they ensure that an equal amount is captured again in some form.
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