News analysis

A shifting of goal posts in China's climate targets?

A worker using a torch to cut steel pipes near the coal-powered Datang International Zhangjiakou Power Station at Zhangjiakou, on Nov 21, 2022. PHOTO: AFP
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BEIJING - China released a series of policy documents in the last two weeks, all of which have raised concern that the country is aiming to peak emissions by 2030, instead of closer to 2025 as analysts had earlier anticipated.

In policy directives released on Feb 7, the central government said emissions by the country's steel industry - the biggest in the world - should peak "before 2030".

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