Chinese Municipal Leaders Pledge an Early Peak of CO2 Emissions

Leaders of 11 Chinese cities and provinces, including Beijing and the major industrial center of Guangzhou, are announcing that their carbon emissions will peak earlier than the national target of an emissions peak by 2030. The cities will make their announcement today at a meeting of global municipal and regional leaders who are dedicated to reducing CO2 emissions. Beijing and Guangzhou are pledging that their CO2 emissions will peak by 2020. The 11 cities and regions are part of the Alliance of Peaking Pioneer Cities, a group of Chinese local and regional governments that represent one-quarter of China’s urban carbon emissions. The low-carbon cities meeting is being held in Los Angeles, which is collaborating with a wide range of U.S. cities — including New York, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington, DC — to reduce CO2 emissions.