Is Climate Action China's Trump Card?

Many cannot imagine China - the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases - taking the lead in setting climate goals. If former US President Donald Trump returns to the White House, there is a chance that China could fill the gap in global climate leadership by announcing bold emissions-reduction targets for 2035. WASHINGTON, DC/HELSINKI - If former US President Donald Trump returns to the White House in 2025, China needs to step up to assume the mantle of global climate leadership - an outcome that many have considered impossible. China has been the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases for nearly two decades, currently accounting for 35% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, the United States and China reached a headline-grabbing agreement to cooperate on climate change, but it included no binding targets. China faces notable challenges in setting ambitious climate goals, but doing so is in the country's economic and political interests. In 2020, Xi pledged that China would reach peak emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2060.