Already known as the planet’s worst polluter, China recently announced it will cut its carbon emissions, from 7% to 10%, by 2035.
With a population of 1.4 billion, China produces more than 31% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions making it the largest producer in the world.
Bonner Cohen, a senior policy analyst at the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, is an expert on energy and the environment. He says China’s commitment will go just as far as other nations who have made similar promises.
“Namely, you can take it with a grain of salt,” he tells AFN.
China’s communist leader, Xi Jinping, announced the new emission goals in a speech this week at the United Nations. His announcement was one of many from 100 countries that totaled six hours of speeches and promises at a climate summit, according to an Associated Press story.
At the same time China is polluting the air and water, Cohen says it’s getting wealthy from the “green energy” industry. Those products range from solar panels and windmills to electric cars.
“China has benefited immensely,” he says, “from efforts by other countries to forego fossil fuels in favor of renewable energies."
Electric vehicles made in China, for example, are produced from the electricity that is generated from coal-fired power plants.
