China has made its clearest signal yet of an intention to heighten climate action, pledging to increase its climate targets by 2020. The world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gas, China committed to enhance its national contribution under the Paris Agreement before the end of next year to reflect its “highest possible ambition”. In a statement issued with France and UN chief António Guterres on Saturday, China committed to “update” its climate target “in a manner representing a progression beyond the current one”. It also vowed to publish a long-term decarbonisation strategy. David Waskow, director of the World Resources Institute’s international climate initiative, described the agreement between China and France as “quite significant” and a clear expression of ambition on climate action. In the statement, France and China also called on countries to “continue to uphold multilateralism and inject political impetus into the international cooperation on jointly fighting climate change”.

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