President Xi Jinping surprised the world in September 2020 by announcing to the UN General Assembly that China aims to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060. A new WRI report finds that China can peak emissions as early as 2026 and realize enormous economic benefits by strengthening climate and energy policies in the 14th Five Year Plan that starts next year. Read more.

Under the Paris Agreement, all countries are invited to communicate long-term low-emissions development strategies by 2020. Forty countries have already submitted these long-term strategies and 100 others are preparing to do so. In a new WRI commentary, Katherine Ross explains how the UN Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021 can help ensure that the strategies support the creation of resilient, prosperous and low-emissions economies. Read More.

The national leaders of 14 countries that make up the Ocean Panel recently announced their commitment to sustainably manage 100% of their national waters by 2025 – a major win for the ocean. But what does “sustainably manage” mean?  Nicholas Walton speaks with ocean expert Jane Lubchenco about the significance of this announcement. These commitments “flip the script,” she says, “putting the ocean at the center of solutions to big global problems, including climate change, food security and loss of biodiversity.” Read More.