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China backs Glasgow language on warming targets for COP27 deal

FILE PHOTO: China's chief climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua speaks during a news conference at the COP27 climate summit in Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

China climate envoy Xie Zhenhua said on Monday that Beijing would like a COP27 deal that contains language similar to last year's agreement in Glasgow on targets for limiting global warming, and was not opposed to mentioning 1.5 degree Celsius.

"Last year’s Glasgow decision already clearly says it, we should follow the Paris Agreement and Glasgow," Xie said.

U.S. Special Envoy John Kerry had said late last week that a few countries at summit had resisted mentioning the 1.5C target in the official text of COP27, but didn't name them.

China is the world's top greenhouse gas emitter.

Countries at last year's climate summit in Scotland had reaffirmed the ambition set in the 2015 Paris Agreement to halt warming at less than 2C above pre-industrial times, as well as its aim for 1.5C as a better outcome.

The final text of the Glasgow pact also went a step further to elaborate on the benefits of halting warming at 1.5C, and the UK hosts touted the deal as one that would keep the 1.5C goal alive.

Scientists say crossing the 1.5C threshold risks bringing on the worst effects of climate change, and that the world will blow past it without more ambitious cuts to emissions.

For daily comprehensive coverage on COP27 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here

(Reporting by Jake Spring; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)

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