CO2: if it drops in China, then the world will follow with a 0.2-0.3 degrees reduction

A German study, which analyses President Xi Jin Ping’s commitment to the environment and the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2060, predicts that if CO2 were to be reduced in China, the same would happen in the rest of the world. If China achieves its announced goal of carbon neutrality before 2060, it would then reduce its global warming projections by around 0.2-0.3 degrees Celsius.

This shows how a world superpower, with almost 2 billion inhabitants (1,7 billion), can shift the balance in the global landscape. The 0.2-0.3 drop in global warming projections provides the largest single reduction ever estimated by the German Institute. In contrast to this prediction, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), a non-profit science and climate policies research institute based in Berlin, previously estimated a rise in global temperatures of 2.7 degrees by 2100. According to the Climate Action Tracker, the Chinese President Xi JinPing’s announcement at the United Nations General Assembly of last week “represents a milestone in international climate policy”. According to the German institute, China’s behavior should lead to a reduction in the estimated increase in global warming of about 2.4-2.5 degrees Celsius, bringing it closer to the +1.5 degree ceiling set by the Paris Agreement. “It is the most important global climate policy announcement of the last five years” says Niklas Hohne of the New Climate Institute, one of the two Climate Action Tracker’s partner organizations.