Climate change is not taking a break from wreaking havoc in 2020, with the joint highest global temperatures on record, rampant bushfires, the faster rates of sea level rise and the extinction of some species.
Under this circumstance, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a virtual meeting Friday on climate change, ahead of the Leaders' Climate Summit on Earth Day convened by the U.S., scheduled next week.
Emphasizing that he always advocates building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Chinese president voiced his willingness to strengthen cooperation with France and Germany on climate change.
"Tackling climate change is a common cause for all mankind and it should not become a geopolitical bargaining chip, a target for attacking other countries, or an excuse for trade barriers," he added.
China's inspiring pledge
President Xi on Friday's meeting reiterated China's ambitious climate target to bring the country's carbon dioxide emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.
"This means that China, the world's largest developing country, will complete the world's highest reduction in carbon intensity and move from carbon peak to carbon neutral in the world's shortest time."
The 14th Five-Year Plan unveiled that China's energy consumption per unit of GDP and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will be reduced by 13.5 percent and 18 percent, respectively, between 2021 and 2025. It also aims to increase the share of non-fossil energy in total energy consumption to around 20 percent.
According to Climate Action Tracker (CAT), if China's goal of carbon neutrality before 2060 is achieved, it will alone lower global warming projections by around 0.2 to 0.3 degrees Celsius, the biggest single reduction ever estimated by CAT.
Meanwhile, China's commitment goes beyond the 2065-2070 global carbon neutrality schedule under the Paris Agreement 2 degrees Celsius scenario, which could move global carbon neutrality ahead by 5-10 years.
