Public opinion on China's climate goals is highly polarized, with critics expressing skepticism about the sincerity of its commitments due to ongoing reliance on coal and previous failures. Conversely, a significant number of comments reflect optimism regarding China's potential leadership in climate action and praise for President Xi's direction, highlighting contrasts with other countries, particularly the U.S.

China

United States

World Community

It's kinda funny that China announced this to the UN general assembly the day after Trump addressed the general assembly, where he went on an hours long incoherent tirade railing against renewables, claiming they don't work and are too expensive, and calling climate change the greatest hoax ever made. Really shows you who the adults in the room are.

zashuna

Hope India joins too. The air is borderline unbreathable. Build more nuclear plants. Thorium if you are worried about uranium supplies. Stop the coal already.

_Wandering_Explorer_

They reached peak fossil fuel consumption this year. Anyone who is actually looking at their rate of change knows that they will drop emissions by a much larger percentage in 20 years. 

The combination of very large investments in renewables and nuclear power generation and adoption of electric vehicles means that they are well on their way to major reductions taking place in the next few years.

LifeIsARollerCoaster

Petrodollar is going to collapse. Of course he is downplaying the importance of renewables and greener options. 

Imagine building an empire on your influence over oil in other and own countries.. through wars. 

And now you have this other very big player saying that your fossil resources are indeed.. old and becoming more obsolete.

sentrux

As opposed to the orange tinfoil saying climate change is a hoax in front of UN lmao

ailes_d

China leads the world in solar and wind power. It has 3 times more than the US. China has about 30 nuclear power plants under construction. THE US HAS 54 TOTAL NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. The US has ZERO nuclear power plants under construction. ZERO. 

The leader in reduction of carbon emissions is CHINA. The majority of current CO2 in the atmosphere was created by the US in the 20th century during our industrialization . Under Trump, our CO2 emissions will only increase. It’s the disgusting truth.

Designer_Buy_1650

It’s a good thing I am learning Mandarin again. I’ll need it as China steps into the shoes of America and becomes the new superpower.

OutrageousOwls

It’s opposite world.

Also China is a world leader on renewable energy. Its installed capacity is huge, and each year it’s adding much much more.

Meanwhile US is ranting at windmills and how solar plants are useless because they don’t make energy in the dark (as if no one has heard of batteries or grid optimisation)

BluehibiscusEmpire

The US willingly conceding its soft power day after day is pretty remarkable.

Pepto-Abysmal

In the mean time, the U.S. is reversing any measures that reduce carbon emissions. “Drill, baby drill.” Maybe he meant this for his mother.

Far_Car430

HaydenB

I can't breathe in Manila and it's getting bad even in Tokyo.

cowrevengeJP

Cheap renewable energy is a critical part of the AI race. Trump's ascension and destruction of the US solar and wind industry at this crucial moment will be his lasting legacy. China can afford to use lower quality homegrown trips for training and just brute force through inefficiencies partially because cheap energy is so plentiful

vanishing_grad

Irrespective of what everyone thinks about China. I do think this is honorable, assuming they live you to it

Jncocontrol

malevolentson

Just in time for him to play Hades II 1.0 releasing today at 12pm ET.

pineapplejuniors

Tonald drump is businessman. Guy looks at everyone as a good deal or bad deal. He doesn’t care about anything but things that only interest him.

lordkillerbee69ultra

And in Germany we have those buffoons in charge that do everything to miss our goals.... what a world we live in.

Kamui1

Not that I trust Xi Jinping's government the slightest little bit, but how sad is it that a despotic organization like the CCP is moving far ahead of the US on _the_ most important issue of our generation?

Embarrassing is what it is. This is THIS generation's space race. The technologies that arise from solving the problems of climate change are going to dictate the economic winners of the next 1 and a half centuries. 

And because of Dickless Don, the United States isn't even in the game, much less positioned to win.

MidnightBluesAtNoon

This could be China’s big play. This is what they will likely lead with next 100 years. If done right I can imagine global power dynamic shift accelerating

CommercialComputer15

Way too little, way too late. Still somehow better than the US currently is.

Jumbledcode

One thing you gotta approve of Xi Jinping et al. is their environmental policies.

niming_yonghu

aldorn

prawirasuhartono

cyber5torm

Well, that's just great. Now all the RWNJs are going to link climate change to communism.

InSight89

Ahh.. When we partnered with China some people forgot.  This was a long-term goal... Some people are stupid..

nmeofst8

China commits to climate goals: 
Anthony Albanese: “We would like to see them do more.”

Trump calls climate change a hoax:
Anthony Albanese: “No comment.”

Talk about brown nosing lol.

MELL0WPILL0W

I can honestly say that I now trust the Chinese gov't to do the right thing more than the US gov't.

Both_Sundae2695

Regardless of what you may think of China, they are a nation not being run by idiots. It’s a strategic advantage to be a leader in the fight against climate change and further isolated the US. This was purely strategic.

justamalihini

It seems like China is the only country taking climate change seriously these days. 

The largest producer of solar, wind, hydro, thorium power station, loads of nuclear power stations being built, a new God of all dams just broke ground. 

Largest high speed railway network, largest fleet of EVs. 

While there are still loads of coal power stations across China, they’re literally idle 50% of the time, only kicking in when the renewables are exhausted. 

Regarding Trump’s comment that climate change is a hoax, even if it is a hoax, renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels in China.

ThroatEducational271

Imagine a world where China is 95% renewable energy and the US is 95% fossil fuel. Energy in the US will be massively more expensive than China. What will that do to the respective economies? It doesn't take much thought does it?

kickyraider

colinmacg

All the smart people are gonna end up in China while the US is left to the conservatives and they can all cry about whatever Fox News told them to together while absolutely no aspect of their life or country actually improves in any meaningful way 😂

DrywallSky

Superior strategic moves often strike more than one bird with a single stone. In this case, China's actions here have multifaceted benefits:

* Energy security
* Direct quality of life benefits for local citizens
* Global soft power benefits in fighting climate change
* Leapfrogging over antiquated energy and technology
* Renewables undermine the increasingly weaponized petrodollar system
* Increased energy capacity to supercharge AI and robotics advancement

Much like [what China has done to the diamond market](https://kdwalmsley.substack.com/p/china-and-africa-are-destroying-the), we are now seeing that happen with the energy market: **low cost abundance**. The bane of every monopolist/empire to ever lord their leverage over others.

Edit: Spelling.

AllenIll

That's my hope....the WORLD moves forward with resolve! 
Even if we flounder into embarrassingly incompetent dysfunction and obsolescence.

ClimateWren2

earth-calling-karma

Wow, way to hand to it China Trump, good job ruining our reputation.

TheEPGFiles

... And so it was foretold that Winnie the Pooh would be the savior of the world.

Flat_Strawberry_6521

2 former Nobel Prize winners in physics AGREE with Trump.


FACEPALM

Unfair-Challenge-207

So whrnever I visit my psychiatrist and explain that I have been transported to an absurd parallel universe this will count as evidence right?

Find_another_whey

I feel like the world got lucky that China has no real significant fossil fuel deposits because it has pushed them towards renewable resources in order to not be dependent on other countries for their energy needs.

I mean, they still do need those resources from elsewhere, but they're working towards reducing that particular dependence.

Zealousideal-Lynx555

Social media (not just reddit) had been taken over by extremely well coordinated propaganda units from Russia and China using AI technology. Its become a tool for disinformation. Nothing more. Edit: every. single. post. is about that douchebag in the white house. Its meant to make us angry and hate democracy 

bialetti808

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Look, let's be honest. You can't expect a nation with 1+ billion people to have the same level of emission as a country with 1/100th of that size.

Per capita, it does not even reach top 20.

Certainly, they do have the responsibility of reducing their emission, as the impact they would have is greater than a number of smaller nations combined, but it feels like people look into these without nuance.

[deleted]

Just ignore the fact they're building record numbers of coal plants and plenty more planed that contradicts it's own climate goals. China is all smoke and mirrors.

Hive-Mind4085

Majestic-Collar-2675

Also worth keeping in mind that China seems to like to underpromise and over-deliver on targets like these.

FathomlessSeer

Planet moves forward while america whines like a baby that they want to go back to 100 BC and pollute murder and rape as much as they want.

NeatlyCritical

I think it's reasonable that china will overperform, should they continue decreasing from this year.

I suspect there's a positive economic tipping points with batteries to look forward to, if they can crack mass solid state batteries soon. Regardless, their residential emissions will drop from population decline alone, as there's less people and if people move from old buildings with old heating systems to new. So I suspect a crash in emissions mid-century, but I should seek more data.  
  
I wonder if they will target methane-emissions as well.

Inner_Fig_4550

My guess is they are using this as a way to become less reliant on other countries gas and oil in a approved manner while still remaining ties with those countries such as russia

Fit-Elk1425

Good job Trump, now you made the US look bad and China looks good for doing something about the environment. Man, why does Trump have to embarrass us all?

ChloMyGod638

loka_loca

And what was the guarantee on that?  Will China self-destruct if the goal isn’t reached?  LMAO!

dlflannery

For context: To limit global warming to 2°C, we need global emissions to drop by 25%-30% by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050.

So 1.5°C is deader than a doornail. We're still well on our way to a &gt;2°C world.

magnetar_industries

Could have been us but we follow stone age morons.

VikingMonkey123

RandoDude124

Xi has understood what it tames to make the other side look stupid, and he delivered. This does not make him better, but that is on another page.

myblueear

Xi Jinping may be a cruel and ruthless 
dictator, but he’s not stupid.  Unlike our cruel and ruthless dictator.

RABlackAuthor

Not enough, but better than nothing, but China alone won’t solve the problem, rest of the globe needs to act

Dragias

We need less cars, not changing them all to electric. It’s better, but not enough.

Weldobud

As far as I know:  
China proposed the 2030 carbon peak target at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2020.  
China announced the 2060 carbon neutrality goal at the Climate Ambition Summit on December 12, 2020.




so I don't quite understand here "China **for First Time** Promises to Reduce Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions"

ParticularDiamond712

I am sceptical, announcing is one thing, but taking action another.
Besides even switching to renewables isn't handling the root problem -&gt; resource consumption (raw earth extraction etc) and even it doesn't imply the stop in demand off fossil fuels (plastics, furtilizer, pharma). But at least better than burning it.
Oil is still the most crucial fossil fuel for our societies, coal can be replaced pretty easy. On the other hand, do they really replace their coal plant with renewables or are they just covering the increasing of energy (electricity) demand?
An electric car is not emission free, the production takes a demand of energy thus an impact of the environment.

On the other hand, China is preparing for war (Taiwan, maybe US) thus increasing their military, what about those emissions? I think they have a more strategic approach. The military can't work without fossil fuels, hence the reduction of fossil fuels for the society reduces China dependencies in times of conflict.
And before you hype China, don't forget it's not a democracy, it's all about power and control.

An BBC article points out, that China needs to reduce it's emissions by 50% until 2035 to be in line with 2°C....

Let's see

ChillTobi

Propaganda again! China is building new coal plants at record rates!

_normal_person__

Two decades late since they already failed to miss key targets to limit their carbon output. Their efforts have been, and will be highly insufficient. 

China's efforts with their ratified NDC targets are [highly insufficient](https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/china/2024-09-17/targets/)

China failed to meet key targets in 2023:

[China Falls Short Of Key Climate Target Last Year, Official Data Shows](https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250228-china-missed-key-climate-target-last-year-official-data)

And because of it they still lag behind in 2024 and 2025. 

[China cuts carbon intensity in 2024 but still lags on key targets](https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/china-cuts-carbon-intensity-2024-still-lags-key-targets-2025-02-28/)

[China has surpassed the EU](https://www.iea.org/reports/co2-emissions-in-2023/the-changing-landscape-of-global-emissions/) in emissions per capita corrected for trade and manufacturing.  

"World Resources Institute chart shows per capita GHG emissions for the EU (≈ 7.04 tCO₂e/person) versus China (≈ 8.6 tCO₂e/person) in their latest data, trade‑adjusted/consumption‑based."

But Reddit will cheer China for their efforts to (two decades late and failing to meet dozens of targets).

M0therN4ture

China has announced a new climate goal to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 7-10% by 2035.

China Climate Goals

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