U.S. climate envoy John Podesta said on Monday that China has an obligation to develop a plan to cut emissions that is aligned with the 2015 Paris Agreement goal to limit planetary warming to 1.5 degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels.

"They have an important role to play and I hope they play it," Podesta said at the COP29 climate conference in Baku.

(Writing by Richard Valdmanis; editing by William James)