About 120 world leaders congregated to address climate change at the U.N. Climate Summit held yesterday in New York. And for the first time, China has pledged to take immediate action on climate change, promising to cut its greenhouse gas emissions.

Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli firmly expressed at the UN's Climate Summit that China will exert greater effort to effectively eliminate climate change as China is already doubling efforts to use renewable energy.

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U.S. President Barack Obama also agreed that China and the U.S. should be responsible for leading efforts against climate change. He says that he recognizes this role and admits that the U.S. is also accountable for it.  

Climate change effects can already be strongly felt in China, says Greenpeace's Li Shuo. Domestic air pollution is driving the country to undertake necessary actions that will lessen coal consumption as this year's coal consumption has been the lowest in this decade.

A top economics planner presented an action plan last Friday where part of the plan revealed how China is apparently on schedule when it comes to meeting its 2020 deadline of cutting carbon emissions by 40 to 45 percent compared to its 2005 levels. 

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron announced to the summit that he already fulfilled his promise of running the greenest government in the world. French president Francois Hollande has even promised to donate US$1 billion that will support third world countries ravaged by the effects of climate change specifically by rising temperatures.

The U.S. and China are two of the biggest polluters in the world today. China emits 29 percent of yearly global carbon emissions which is also comparable to the amount U.S. spews according to the Global Carbon Project. However, environmentalists are still skeptical about these plans to counter climate change as China and the U.S. are also constructing coal-fueled power plants at an unprecedented rate compared to the amount of renewables they are producing.

Meanwhile, Obama is experiencing internal conflicts with Congress. Some members of Congress are unwilling to cooperate when it comes to restricting greenhouse gas emissions or even sanctioning an international agreement.  

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