From the Independent via Yahoo News, August 2:
China and India miss UN deadline to update emissions targets
China and India have missed a UN deadline to submit fresh plans for cutting their greenhouse gas emissions in time for the global body to include their pledges in a report for governments at this year's global climate summit, officials said on Saturday.
The world’s two most populous countries are among dozens that failed to provide an update on their targets for curbing the release of planet-warming gases to the U.N. climate change agency by July 31.
China is the country with the world's highest emissions, while India is third. The United States which submitted its new target in April, is the second-biggest global emitter.
U.N. climate chief Patricia Espinosa welcomed that 110 signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change had met the cut-off date, which was extended from the end of 2020 due to the pandemic. But she said it was “far from satisfactory” that only 58% had submitted their new targets in time....
....MUCH MORE
And from France24, August 3:
China to release updated climate plans 'in near future': envoy
....The United Nations is pushing for a global coalition committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 which will cover all countries. China has said it will aim for carbon neutrality by 2060.
The 2015 Paris Agreement adopted a collective promise to cap the planet's rising surface temperature at "well below" two degrees Celsius and an aspirational limit on 1.5 degrees.
- Beijing's reluctance -
Many scientists now say 1.5 degrees must be reached to effectively tackle climate change and say huge emitters like China will be crucial in making that a reality.
Record-smashing heatwaves, floods and drought across three continents in recent weeks -- all amplified by global warming -- have added pressure for decisive action in Glasgow.
China is reluctant to commit to 1.5 degrees.
"Some countries are pushing to rewrite the Paris Agreement," Xie said. "That is, they want to strive to change the target of control for the rise of temperature from two degrees Celsius to 1.5 degrees Celsius."
"We have to understand the different situations in different countries, and strive to reach a consensus," he added.....
In a way he's got a point. Even the two degree number was sorta just pulled from the air:
Climate: So Where Did the 2ºC Global Warming Target Come From? (now 1.5ºC but that's another story)
