China’s emissions of carbon dioxide appear to have peaked more than 10 years sooner than its government had said they would and India is now expected to obtain 40 per cent of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2022, eight years ahead of schedule, it noted.
New York: India and China are showing the way forward in the battle against climate change by greatly increasing their investments in renewable energy sources that is making President Donald Trump’s America look like a "laggard", a leading US daily has commented.
"Until recently, China and India have been cast as obstacles, at the very least reluctant conscripts, in the battle against climate change.
"That reputation looks very much out-of-date now that both countries have greatly accelerated their investments in cost-effective renewable energy sources – and reduced their reliance on fossil fuels. It’s America – Donald Trump’s America – that now looks like the laggard," the ‘New York Times’ said in an editorial.
The editorial titled ‘China and India Make Big Strides on Climate Change’ cited research released last week at a United Nations climate meeting in Germany that said China and India should easily exceed the targets they set for themselves in the 2015 Paris Agreement signed by more than 190 countries.
China’s emissions of carbon dioxide appear to have peaked more than 10 years sooner than its government had said they would and India is now expected to obtain 40 per cent of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2022, eight years ahead of schedule, it noted.
While there are challenges and emissions from industry and agriculture to worry about "still, Beijing and New Delhi – not, embarrassingly enough, Washington – are showing the way forward," it said.
While all nations have a part to play in combating climate change and its devastating effects, "tangible progress" by the world’s number one producer of greenhouse gases (China) and its number three (India) is "astonishing nonetheless, and worth celebrating," the editorial said.
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