Global climate challenges and China's progress in response

On January 27, the United States formally exited the Paris Climate Agreement for a second time, marking a major policy shift.

U.S. President Donald Trump emphasized fossil fuel development, ended electric vehicle incentives and exempted coal plants from pollution rules, signaling a retreat from international climate cooperation.

"It's important for us that all countries abide by their obligations to deal with climate change," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, stressed at the UN headquarters on Friday. "It's a critical problem, and what is needed is collective action. So, we want to discourage any efforts to retreat from those commitments."

The World Meteorological Organization warns that fossil fuel use worsens air pollution and climate change through a feedback loop. In 2025, global fossil fuel CO2 emissions reached a record high of approximately 38.1 billion tonnes, with natural carbon sinks weakening.

Extreme weather events, including heatwaves, floods and typhoons, are increasingly testing disaster response systems worldwide.

China has made significant progress in climate governance. Carbon emission growth slowed to 0.6 percent in 2024, below the global average.

The country launched the Global Climate Dataset, released the first Blue Book on Climate Resource Economy, and enhanced early warning systems for extreme weather, integrating forecasts with energy and infrastructure management.

During the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belem, Brazil, Wang Xun, a researcher at the Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University in Zhejiang and visiting researcher at the International Institute of Green Finance, Central University of Finance and Economics, stated, "The standout achievement in the finance domain was the elevation of ambition. Climate finance in the post-COP30 era should center on translating pledges into near-term commitments, enhancing access and equity, and operationalizing transparency while mobilizing private capital."

U.S. scholar Clifford Cobb, director of the U.S. Institute for Postmodern Development of China, praised China's ecological civilization projects, soil restoration, rural environmental protection and renewable energy development, noting that economic growth can align with reduced emissions.

China's integrated approach to climate resilience demonstrates how early warning, green energy, data sharing and policy innovation can strengthen national response systems and provide a model for balancing development with climate action.