When initially there was a discussion among the global community about cutting carbon emissions to fight global warming, it was agreed that many countries that were just developing needed to have the ability to emit carbon to get to where the rich countries already are (as the rich countries had done during their growth period).
As such the carbon reduction targets on these countries is less severe than it is on countries like in Western Europe.
The problem with this is in many of these countries their carbon emissions are rising so fast that emissions must fall sooner than that if we are to have any chance of holding the planets warming to levels we can survive.
China has committed to hitting peak carbon in 2030, with an intention of carbon emissions falling to net zero by 2060.What has been encouraging is that recently there has begun to emerge a certain dislocation between emission rising and and market growth (something that must occur if China is to grow its economy enough to provide an enjoyable standard of living for its huge population.
The most recent dip has been as a result of the corona virus outbreak, during which time the carbon emissions of China fell dramatically. Obviously the necessity now it’s a find a way of having this happen at the same time that the economy continues to run.
They will also have to make a substantial change in how the create their electricity,the current energy mix is 85% fossil fuels with the other 15 coming from renewable. These will have to reverse in order to give them a chance of reaching net zero emissions, though given that the large proportion of the world’s solar panels are made in China they clearly have the expertise to start moving in this direction.
