To prevent catastrophic global warming, China must hang tough

AFTER DONALD TRUMP became America’s president in 2017 and thumbed his nose at international efforts to curb global warming, China emerged as a hero in the campaign. Other Western leaders were relieved that it did not take the opportunity to back away as well—after all, it had once condemned climate-change talk as Western fearmongering aimed at undermining China’s economic growth. The country’s president, Xi Jinping, won widespread applause for insisting that emissions goals agreed at the UN’s climate meeting in Paris in 2015 must be upheld.

Now environmentalists wonder whether China will lead the charge in a new round of climate diplomacy. One aim of the climate summit at the UN’s headquarters on September 23rd is to remind countries that they will need more ambitious targets if the world is to keep global warming below 2°C. Work is getting under way on drawing up China’s next five-year economic plan, which will take effect in 2021. It will be a test of China’s willingness to raise its game. Early signs are not promising.