Li Keqiang

Premier of the planet’s biggest emitter

In his first press conference as premier of China, back in April 2013, Li Keqiang promised to tackle pollution with “an iron fist”, a statement that was met with some degree of optimism. Chinese environmental issues are more immediate and obvious than in other countries, with a huge pollution crisis affecting many cities. But they are also a key carbon emitter, contributing to global warming that affects us all. The central challenge is balancing a growing economy with sustainability; an issue for many, but China’s rapid growth, political history and sheer size make it more than just a simple case study. Recent headlines about a Chinese carbon cap may have been overstated, but for all that China may be the planet’s biggest polluter, it also leads the world on investment in low carbon energy. Ban Ki-Moon has publicly called for China to take an international lead ahead of the climate talks in New York in September. How Li responds to this challenge is to be seen.