China’s Xi to address U.N. climate summit by video link

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will talk to global leaders at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland by video link, the Foreign Ministry announced Friday.

China, the biggest source of carbon dioxide and other climate-changing industrial gases, had left the world guessing what role Xi might play at the meeting that opens Sunday. Xi has avoided foreign travel since before the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020.

On Thursday, China formally submitted its climate goals, pledging to reach peak emissions of CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieve “carbon neutrality,” or using forests and other measures to absorb as much carbon as it emits, by 2060.

The document included targets previously announced by Xi but set no additional goals.