Tanker and bulker owners look on as Xi tightens environmental goals

Xi Jinping, the president of China, upped his nation’s green goals over the weekend in a video address that will have ramifications for owners of bulk carriers and tankers around the world.

Xi, who earlier this year vowed to make China carbon neutral by 2060 and to ensure Chinese emissions peak by the end of this decade, took the lead at the Climate Ambition Summit on Saturday, an event to mark the fifth anniversary of the historic Paris climate agreement.

China vowed to nearly triple its wind and solar capacity during the next decade, with Xi also saying China would cut its carbon intensity, which measures emissions relative to gross domestic product, by more than 65% by 2030. This was an increase from its previous goal of 60-65%.

Xi said the world’s largest energy consuming nation would increase wind and solar installed capacity to 1200GW by 2030, up from 415GW at the end of 2019. Xi said China would increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 25% by 2030, up from a previous commitment of 20%.