On the 24 Sept 2025 edition of the Financial Times I read this interesting news: “Xi Jinping sets out conservative climate goal for China over next decade” where China’s President Xi Jinping, during the UN Climate Summit in New York, outlined his country’s plan for cutting its greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade. He said that China will now aim for a 7%-10% cut in emissions by 2035 from peak levels, where they remain for now until the big green energy push takes over from burning coal. Xi Jinping also said China would increase its wind and solar capacity sixfold from 2020 levels and boost the share of non-fossil fuels in its total energy consumption to more than 30%.
This is an important announcement taking into account that while Xi Jinping called green technology “the trend of our time”, President Donald Trump called it a “joke” (see: “Fact-checking what Trump said about climate change during the UN General Assembly” on ABC News).
It is well known with this Trump administration the issue of climate change – visible everywhere in any part of the world – is not an issue. Actually, for them it doesn’t exist and, in particular, the U.S. President said renewable energy sources “don’t work” and are “too expensive”.
Here in Europe we fortunately have a higher sensitivity about climate change.
The UK is committed to reaching net zero by 2050. This means that the total greenhouse gas emissions would be equal to the emissions removed from the atmosphere, with the aim of limiting global warming and resultant climate change. The UK Government has adopted a suite of policies in order to reach net zero. Its most recent strategy document, published under the Sunak Government, is the 2023 Carbon Budget Delivery Plan (March 2023), with a revised plan to be published in Autumn 2025. Mode details can be found here.
The European Commission kicked off the “Green Deal” in 2019 and extended it until 2029. The “Green Deal 2024-2029” key aspects include a Clean Industrial Deal to decarbonise industries, a Competitiveness Compass to bridge the innovation gap, boosting the circular economy, and accelerating the green and digital transitions through significant investment. The goal remains to achieve the EU’s climate neutrality target by 2050, with the 2024-2029 period emphasising the integration of green policies with industrial strength, competitiveness, and skill development. The current EU Climate Law requires a 2040 target to be set, for which the Commission made a recommendation in February 2024 of a 90% reduction by 2040 relative to 1990 levels.
Why am I talking about Climate Change? Well, in a few weeks, the UN COP30 will kick off in Belém (Brazil) and there is scepticism that after 11 days of meetings, discussions, commitments, something concrete should be adopted.
In ‘History will remember who showed up’: Keir Starmer faces call to attend Cop30 summit published by the Guardian on 26 Sept there are a few declarations that should generate some hope about taking real decisions. I have selected three statements, reported below.
Ban Ki-moon said: “World leaders must be in Belém for Cop30.” The former UN secretary general said: “Attendance is not a courtesy – it is a test of leadership. This is the moment to lock in stronger national commitments, and the finance to deliver them, especially for adaptation [to the effects of the climate crisis]. The world is watching – and history will remember who showed up.”
Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and twice a UN climate envoy, said: “Cop30 in Belém this year promises to be one of the most significant climate summits in recent years. It is vital that heads of state and government attend in person to signify their commitment to climate action. Leadership must come from the top.”
Sir David King, the former chief scientific adviser to the UK government, said: “The attendance of world leaders on the first day of COP30 is vital to set the trend of the meeting. A very good example is the commitment of the UK to reduce emissions by 81% by 2035, made by Starmer at the last Cop. This needs to be reiterated by the prime minister in Brazil, to persuade other countries to make similar major commitments.”
Climate Change is a reality and some actions must be taken sooner than later to avoid having populations and cities wiped away by hurricanes, drought, super high temperatures.
The problem is that whatever set of actions will be taken (in any field or industry), it will have a direct or indirect impact on the economy of a single country or group of countries. Some parts of the world grew quite fast in the last couple of centuries and this happened at the expenses of nature: poisonous fumes released into the air and exhausts of chemical processes discharged in rivers and seas are just two examples of what happened (and in some cases they are still happening somewhere in the planet) for decades and all this had a cost, hidden at the beginning and pretty clear but ignored later.
We are now at a point of no return and radical measures must implemented. Many efforts have been going on to change our way of producing goods, travelling, generating energy, etc,, but these are not enough.
Plans for change must be properly designed and assessed before implementing them, otherwise we are going generate other serious problems. One example for all: the car industry. The decision of converting vehicles powertrains from Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) to fully electric in short time (by 2030-35) was a mega mistake, at least, in Europe. It has also exposed the inferiority position of the continent in the batteries production as well as restructuring the electricity network from fixed to smart grids, etc.
This shows we need decisions taken from a pure scientific/technical/economic point of view, totally free from any political influence/bias.
It is true that we need urgent solutions to curb the increase of the Earth average temperature and mitigate climate change disastrous effects but, in the meantime, we cannot destroy the social organisation of countries, otherwise we will run the risk of solving a problem to generate another one, both of them on planetary scale.
Stefano Mainero
EPN Consulting and EPN Consulting Research and Innovation Founder & CEO
Article written by human beings without any use of AI. EPN Consulting Ltd. copyright 2025
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