Ashraf AboArafe
On September 24, 2025, President Xi Jinping delivered a virtual address to the United Nations Climate Summit, marking the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement—a milestone that symbolizes a decisive moment in global climate governance.
Xi underscored three guiding principles:
Confidence that the green, low-carbon transition is the defining trend of our era, one that the international community must embrace with unwavering determination, despite resistance from certain powers.
Responsibility to uphold fairness and justice, narrowing the gap between North and South by ensuring developing countries’ right to growth while requiring developed nations to lead in emission reductions and provide stronger financial and technological support.
Cooperation through deeper collaboration on green industries and technologies, bridging the global gap in clean energy capacity, and ensuring that the fruits of sustainable development are shared worldwide.
The Chinese president announced a new set of national contributions: reducing net greenhouse gas emissions across all economic sectors by 7%–10% by 2035 compared to their peak levels, raising non-fossil fuels to over 30% of total energy consumption, expanding wind and solar capacity to 3.6 billion kilowatts—more than six times the 2020 level—enhancing forest stock to over 24 billion cubic meters, and making new energy vehicles the mainstream of domestic car sales. He also pledged to broaden China’s national carbon market to cover high-emission sectors and build a climate-resilient society.
Xi concluded with a clear message: while achieving these goals will demand arduous effort, China has both the determination and confidence to honor its promises. He called on all nations to take concrete steps to realize “a beautiful horizon of harmony between humanity and nature,” safeguarding our shared home on Earth.
