The UN Climate Summit shows little has changed in China’s thinking on climate change. Despite a prediction by Xinhua that Zhang would “expound China’s bold measures [in emissions reductions] after 2020,” he effectively kicked the can down the road by saying that China would announce its post-2020 actions as soon as possible. Without concrete commitments, China’s promise to reduce carbon intensity and the share of fossil fuels rings somewhat hollow. Zhang’s speech reflects the general pessimism that accompanied the news of Xi Jinping’s absence from the summit. The world will likely have to wait for China’s 13th Five Year Plan (to be adopted in 2016) to see just how serious Xi’s government is about climate change. --Shannon Tiezzi, The Diplomat, 24 September 2014
