China’s Climate Ambitions Include a 2060 Carbon Neutral Goal

Trump says he is standing up for US constituencies such as coal miners and has loosened environmental rules, although individual US states such as California have insisted on fighting climate change on their own.

"Those who attack America's exceptional environmental record while ignoring China's rampant pollution are not interested in the environment," Trump said in a UN speech shortly before Xi spoke.

"They only want to punish America, and I will not stand for it."

Read also: US and China Disagreements Prompt Calls for Global Unity

China's ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, scoffed at the remarks by Trump, who devoted much of his speech to attacking Beijing over Covid-19.

"The United States should be the last one to talk about climate change," he told reporters.

"They are the one who is disassociating itself from the international efforts on climate change."

The future of the Paris accord will be partly determined on November 3 as Trump runs for re-election against Joe Biden, who has pledged to return the United States to the agreement and move toward carbon neutrality by 2050.

(Writer: SCT-ICO/APJ/HG, Agence France-Presse)

Source: http://u.afp.com/3RsU