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China pledges first ever absolute cut to emissions

Sep 25, 2025, 7:38am EDT
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Solar panels in front of factories in China.
Colleen Howe/File Photo/Reuters

Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed to cut his country’s emissions by up to 10% below their peak by 2035, taking a veiled swipe at US President Donald Trump who this week railed against renewable energy.

Green and low-carbon transition is the trend of our time,” Xi said, pushing other countries to pursue renewables even if some are “acting against it.” Earlier, Trump had called climate change “the greatest con job ever,” and said renewable energy was destroying Western nations. Since the start of his second term, Trump has slashed funding for green energy and boosted oil and gas production.

However, China’s emissions remain far greater than those of the US: Beijing’s proposed 10% cut equates to roughly four times the UK’s entire output.

A chart showing the share of global CO2 emissions for China, the US, and the EU.
AD