President Xi Jinping’s pledge that China will achieve “carbon neutrality” before 2060 could curb likely global warming by 0.2-0.3C this century, if achieved, according to research reported on by Reuters. This would make the pledge “the most significant climate policy move for years”, it says. The research, from research consortium Climate Action Tracker (CAT), comes after Xi surprised the world by announcing China’s intention to achieve carbon neutrality at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. If delivered, the pledge would bring about the biggest reduction in projected global warming of any climate commitment made to date, says the research. “This is the most important announcement on global climate policy in at least the last five years,” Niklas Hoehne, a partner at German-based New Climate Institute, one of the two organisations behind CAT, tells Reuters. A second Reuters story reports that China’s new pledge, if combined with a win for US presidential candidate Joe Biden, could bring climate goals back “into view”. And a story in the Financial Times also reports on how China’s pledge “revives hopes of a climate game change”.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that China’s new climate pledge has made Australia’s resistance to a mid-century net zero emissions target look “increasingly unsustainable”. The Guardian reports: “The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, said on Sunday the government had committed to reach net-zero emissions in the second half of the century, rejecting a call from business, industrial, farming and union groups for it to set that target for 2050. The government has not set a formal long-term target, and has said it does not intend to change its 2030 goal – a 26-28% cut below 2005 levels – before a major UN climate meeting in Glasgow next year.”

Guest post form Reuters