Climate Change

China's State Council announced that, as a "voluntary action on the part of the Chinese government" "based on national conditions", China had set the target to reduce carbon intensity (amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of economic output) by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 compared with 2005 levels. While the announcement was seen as "a great step forward", the target fell short of the 50 or 55 percent cut many countries had hoped for and was something that China's existing policies would have attained anyway. Given China's GDP growth, the projected cuts in carbon intensity would mean China's overall emission levels would still grow 72 to 88 percent by 2020.