Will China lead the way?
Interview with Dr Yixian Sun in the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals, 2025
12/8/2025
The world is facing a political leadership vacuum when it comes to climate action. Dr Yixian Sun tells Chris Seekings whether China will step up to the plate.
US president Donald Trump shocked the world when he described climate change as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated” at the UN General Assembly in September, before going on to deride the “green energy scam”.
The next day, China’s leader Xi Jinping gave a surprise video statement to the New York summit announcing that the country would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 7-10% by 2035 while "striving to do better".
While critics argue that China’s plan doesn’t go far enough, these contrasting announcements from the world’s two largest emitters left little doubt that the global order is changing, at least when it comes to political leadership on climate action.
The full interview is available here
