China Pledges First Economy-wide 7–10% Cut

At a U.N. leaders' summit ahead of the COP30 climate talks, more than 100 countries — representing roughly two‑thirds of global emissions — submitted new plans to curb fossil‑fuel pollution. China for the first time pledged an economy‑wide greenhouse‑gas cut of 7–10% from peak levels by 2035, committed to lift the non‑fossil share of primary energy to over 30%, said it would expand wind and solar capacity roughly sixfold versus 2020, and announced plans to scale up electric vehicles and forests. President Xi framed the package as a bid for global leadership and a rebuttal to U.S. climate skepticism. The commitment was widely criticized as insufficient — the EU called it 'well short' and climate scientists and analysts say a far steeper (~30%) near‑term cut and a clear peak year would be needed to align with a 1.5°C pathway. Observers noted China's pattern of under‑promising then rapidly deploying zero‑carbon infrastructure, meaning implementation and the choice of baseline will determine the pledge's real impact ahead of COP30 in Brazil in November.