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China pledges to cut its climate emissions
China Climate change
On 24 September China for the first time committed to an absolute target to cut its emissions of greenhouse gases. China is the world’s biggest emitter of these gases. In a video link to the UN in the previous week’s New York meeting, president Xi Jinping said that China would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions across the economy by 7-10% by 2035, while ‘striving to do better’. China was responsible for more than a quarter of planet-warming emissions in 2023, at almost 14 bn tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent. China’s pledge marks the first time that China has set actual emissions reductions targets on that path. “These targets represent China’s best efforts based on the requirements of the Paris agreement,” president Xi said. It also covers all greenhouse gases, not just carbon dioxide, and will be measured “from peak levels” of emissions – although the timing peaks was not specified. He stated that China would expand wind and solar power capacity to more than six
times 2020 levels, increase forest stocks to more than 24bn cubic metres, and make ‘new energy vehicles’ the mainstream in new vehicle sales.
This announcement is a strong contrast with US policy. The US is rolling back on its commitments under previous presidents, with president Trump calling climate change a ‘con job’.
Some critics said China’s plan did not go as far as hoped in keeping global climate goals in reach. “Even for those with tempered expectations, what’s presented today still falls short,” said Yao Zhe, global policy adviser at Greenpeace East Asia.
According to analysis by Earth System Science data, the average global air temperature has risen steadily since pre-industrial times. It reached 0.25 deg C in 1975, but has been rising much more quickly since then and has now reached 1.5 degC.
COP meeting With the next meeting of global leaders
scheduled for the UN’s Conference of the Parties COP30, in Brazil in November, the UN meeting in New York has extra relevance because countries are running out of time to submit their new climate plans, which were to be presented by the end of September. These pledges – submitted every five years – are a key part of the Paris Climate Agreement, the landmark deal in which nearly 200 countries agreed steps to try to limit global warming.
Speaking before the meeting UN secretary- general António Guterres said the pledges were critical to keep the long-term rise in global temperatures under 1.5C, as agreed in Paris.
“We absolutely need … climate action plans that are fully aligned with 1.5 degrees, that cover the whole of their economies and the whole of their greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. “It is essential that we have a drastic reduction of emissions in the next few years if you want to keep the 1.5 degrees C limit alive.”
Ørsted to cut 2000 staff positions by 2027 Denmark Finance
Ørsted is moving forwards with its updated business plan by reducing its organisation by around 2000 staff positions towards the end of 2027. The company will be focusing more on its ‘strategic priorities’, namely offshore wind and Europe, and finalising a number of offshore wind farms during the coming years, and on the need to improve its competitiveness.
“This is a necessary consequence of our decision to focus our business and the fact that we’ll be finalising our large construction portfolio in the coming years – which is why we’ll need fewer employees. At the same time, we want to create a more efficient and flexible organisation and a more competitive Ørsted, ready to bid on new value-accretive offshore wind projects,” said CEO Rasmus Errboe. “We’re committed to maintain our position as a market leader in offshore wind, and we need to ensure that offshore wind becomes a key element of Europe’s future energy mix and green transition. Therefore, we also need to reduce our costs for developing, constructing, and operating offshore wind farms to strengthen our competitiveness.” Ørsted currently employs around 8000 people globally so by the end of 2027 it expects to have a workforce of around 6000. The ‘rightsizing’ of the organisation will
happen through natural attrition, a reduction of positions, divestment, outsourcing, and redundancies. says the company. As part of this, Ørsted has today announced that it will be making about 500 employees redundant in Q4 2025, including 235 in Denmark. Towards the end of 2027, the organisation will be re-sized in parallel with the decline in construction activities.
The company has committed to finalising its 8.1 GW construction portfolio across 3 continents – its largest to date. During 2025, Ørsted has announced several initiatives to deliver on the company’s updated strategic direction and to be in a stronger position in 2028. The recently completed rights issue has strengthened its capital structure, while the construction of the company’s offshore wind portfolio is progressing as planned says the company. As part of its updated strategy, Ørsted has also sharpened its geographical and technological focus and will be directing it primarily towards offshore wind in Europe and in select markets in the Asia-Pacific region. The company is to maintain its focus on the efficient operation of the Danish combined heat and power plants. Once all efficiency measures have been implemented, the annual cost savings are expected to amount to DKK 2 billion from 2028.
4 | October 2025 |
www.modernpowersystems.com
Rights issue
Ørsted has raised DKr59.56bn ($9.35bn) through a rights issue to strengthen its capital structure and support ongoing projects. This has allowed existing shareholders, including the Danish state, which holds a 50.1% stake, and new investors with acquired pre-emptive rights, to subscribe to new shares. Ørsted issued the new shares at a subscription ratio of 15:7 and a price of DKr66.60 per share. Existing shareholders or new investors with pre-emptive rights have subscribed to approximately 99.3% of the 894 298 680 new shares. The Danish state has subscribed to 451 522 164 shares. Rasmus Errboe commented: “The rights issue strengthens Orsted’s financial foundation, allowing us to focus on delivering our six offshore wind farms under construction, continue to handle the regulatory uncertainty in the US, and strengthen our position as a market leader in offshore wind. We’ll continue to work hard on executing our strategy and delivering results quarter after quarter. It will be a long, tough haul, and we have a lot of work ahead of us in the coming years to ensure progress on our projects under construction, improve our competitiveness, and focus the business on offshore wind, especially in Europe.”
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