At a pivotal United Nations climate summit on September 24, 2025, China—by far the world’s largest carbon emitter—unveiled a new climate target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035. This announcement, delivered by President Xi Jinping in a video address, marks the first time China has set an absolute emissions reduction goal encompassing all economic sectors and greenhouse gases, a move that many observers say signals a new chapter in global climate governance.
The summit, convened by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the General Assembly, drew more than 100 world leaders to New York. With major international climate negotiations scheduled for Brazil just six and a half weeks later, the gathering was charged with urgency—and not just because of the packed diplomatic calendar. The world’s climate, after all, is in turmoil. From record-breaking floods in Pakistan, which recently displaced millions and killed over a thousand, to wildfires in Spain and Australia’s relentless droughts and cyclones, the consequences of rising temperatures are being felt everywhere. As Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif bluntly put it, "As I speak to you, my country is reeling from intense monsoon rains, flash floods, mudslides and devastating urban flooding. We are facing this calamity at a time when the scars of the 2022 floods that inflicted losses exceeding $30 billion and displaced millions are still visible across our land."
China’s new pledge comes at a time when the international community is under pressure to strengthen its commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The year 2025 marks the tenth anniversary of that landmark accord, and all 195 signatory nations are expected to submit updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)—their individual plans to curb emissions—by the end of September. Xi’s announcement was widely anticipated, but the details still carried weight: China, which produces more than 31% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, now aims to reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7% to 10% from peak levels by 2035, "striving to do even better," as Xi put it.
The plan is multifaceted. China will increase the share of nonfossil fuels in its energy mix to over 30% by 2035, and expand installed wind and solar power capacity more than sixfold compared to 2020, targeting a total of 3,600 gigawatts. The country also intends to make new energy vehicles mainstream in new vehicle sales, expand its National Carbon Emissions Trading Market to cover major high-emission sectors, and scale up its total forest stock volume to over 24 billion cubic meters. Xi emphasized that China will "basically establish a climate-adaptive society," signaling a holistic approach to both mitigation and adaptation.
China’s investment in clean energy has been nothing short of staggering. In 2024 alone, the country invested over $625 billion in clean energy, accounting for a third of the global total and nearly doubling its 2015 investment, according to an industry report cited by multiple sources including the Associated Press. Dimitri de Boer, director for China at ClientEarth, told China Daily, "China has committed to continuing its rapid deployment of renewable energy and reducing emissions from the peak. If recent trends continue, the NDC targets will be met and exceeded." He added, "China’s low-cost, high-quality green technologies are the greatest breakthrough in the global fight against climate change. By accelerating innovation in renewable energy, electric vehicles and clean tech, China is proving that sustainable growth and climate action can go hand in hand."
Yet, reactions to the new target have been mixed. Some environmental advocates and international observers have called the 7% to 10% reduction “too timid” given China’s extraordinary record on clean energy. Former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, chair of The Elders, said, "China’s latest climate target is too timid given the country’s extraordinary record on clean energy. China must go further and faster." On the other hand, others argue that China’s pattern of under-promising and over-delivering—combined with its track record of peaking emissions ahead of schedule—suggests the country may well exceed its stated ambitions. As Li Shuo of the Asia Society told AFP, “Beijing’s commitment is a cautious step that favors steadiness and delivery over ambition. The good news is that in a world increasingly driven by self-interest, China may be better positioned than most to advance climate action.”
Xi’s speech was also notable for its diplomatic overtones. He stressed the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities,” urging developed nations to lead on emission reductions and provide greater financial and technological support to developing countries. “It is important that countries strengthen international coordination in green technologies and industries to address the shortfall in green production capacity and ensure the free flow of quality green products globally, so that the benefits of green development can reach all corners of the world,” Xi said.
The United States, under President Donald Trump, was notably absent from the summit. Trump has doubled down on fossil fuels and dismissed climate change as a “con job” in his recent address to the UN. Europe, meanwhile, presented a less detailed and not yet official new plan, with emission-cutting targets ranging between 66% and 72%. However, the European Union faces internal disagreements, with some member states—such as France—hesitant to move forward without clearer investment frameworks, fearing economic disruption.
UN Secretary-General Guterres struck a balance between warning and optimism. He reminded leaders, "The science demands action. The law commands it. The economics compel it. And people are calling for it." Guterres also highlighted the progress since the Paris Agreement: "In the last 10 years, projected global temperature rise has dropped from four degrees Celsius to less than three," he said, crediting part of that progress to China’s shift away from coal and its booming exports of solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles.
Still, the challenge remains daunting. Climate scientist Johan Rockstrom warned, “Warming appears to be accelerating. Here we must admit failure. Failure to protect peoples and nations from unmanageable impacts of human-induced climate change. We’re dangerously close to triggering fundamental and irreversible change.” Texas Tech’s Katharine Hayhoe echoed this, telling leaders, “Every tenth of a degree of warming is connected to worsening floods, wildfires, heat waves, storms and many more deaths: What’s at stake is nothing less than everything and everyone we love.”
Under the Paris Agreement, the world’s nations are supposed to submit ever-more-stringent plans every five years. Before 2015, the world was on track for 4°C of warming above pre-industrial levels; now, projections have been trimmed to 2.6°C. But the Paris goal remains to limit warming to 1.5°C, and the world has already warmed about 1.3°C to 1.4°C since the mid-19th century. The window for action is rapidly closing.
As the world looks ahead to COP30 in Brazil, China’s new climate pledge sets a tone of cautious optimism. It’s a step forward—perhaps not the leap some had hoped for, but a signal that the world’s largest emitter is, at least for now, moving in the right direction. The next chapter will depend on whether other nations, especially those with the greatest historical emissions, can match words with deeds and help tip the scales toward a safer climate future.
