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China announced meeting carbon intensity target three years ahead of schedule. The world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide had pledged to curtail emissions, during Copenhagen climate summit in 2009.
Carbon intensity is the amount of carbon dioxide produced per unit of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Xie Zhenhua, country’s top climate official during a green forum in Shanghai, revealed that China has successfully reduced the 2005 level carbon intensity by 46 percent last year, around three years before the 2020 deadline.
China fixed four climate targets for 2020 – cutting carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent from the the 2005 level, having non-fossil fuels account for 15 percent of consumption in the primary sector, and increasing forest coverage by 40 million hectares and forest stock volume by 1.3 billion cubic meters compared with 2005.
Huw Slater, senior consultant, ICF, an international consultancy agency told CGTN, China has not only met the carbon intensity target but has also overachieved it by nearly one percent. “China is now aiming to reduce emissions by 60 to 65 percent further to meet 2030 target,” he said.
Such reduction signifies a country’s economy and manufacturing sector is becoming more efficient, according to climate experts.
China, USA, EU and India are top four emitters of the world.
From 2005 to 2015, China's economy grew by 1.48 times, and at the same time, the carbon intensity dropped by 38.6 percent. In 2016, the rate continued to fall by 6.6 percent year on year, Xinhua reported.
With a massive use of renewable energy and launch of a carbon emission trading scheme (ETS), carbon emissions have likely decreased further in the past year. At present, China’s ETS is focusing on the power sector. More than 1,700 power plants in the country emit more than three billion tons of carbon dioxide.
The power sector alone accounts for more than 46 percent of emissions, of which an estimated 39 percent would be covered by the ETS. According to an industry estimates by 2030, the ETS in China could reduce emissions by 27.49 percent.
Slater pointed out schemes will undoubtedly help in de-carbonizing the economy, but a lot depends on how caps and permits are allocated.
“ETS is still in a preparatory stage but has a vast potential for accelerating the pace of reducing carbon intensity,” he said. China is cautiously moving ahead with the implementation of the ETS. It’s trying to strengthen the reliability of emission data before distributing carbon permits.
"China will achieve more in the future through on-going policies like restricting coal power plants and promoting more clean energy," said Xu Shengnian, Energy and Climate Change Program Officer at Global Environmental Institute (GEI) in a statement to CGTN.
(CGTN)
