With its population of 1.4 billion and a massive manufacturing industry, China is by far the world’s largest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say drive climate change and make extreme weather more frequent and intense.
Until now the country had set itself climate targets based on the carbon intensity of its economic growth, meaning it set objectives to reduce its emissions per unit of wealth produced.
“Once peak carbon emissions are reached” — which China is aiming for by 2030 — “a dual carbon emission control system will be implemented, with total volume control as the main target”, China’s powerful NRDC economic planning agency said.
“China is now gradually extricating emissions reductions from economic growth,” said Greenpeace China analyst Yao Zhe.
“This new approach will help align China’s domestic action with its international commitments,” she added.While China has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, the country is expected to use this new methodology to set new climate objectives, according to experts.Under the Paris climate agreement, countries are supposed to outline how they intend to contribute to collective efforts to confront climate change in plans known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
To meet global climate goals, countries are expected to submit enhanced targets for 2035 before a UN deadline of February 10, 2025.
“The (Chinese) NDC will contain an absolute emission reduction target with the target year 2035. China has committed to release it by February 2025,” Li Shuo, a climate expert at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), a think tank, told AFP.
“This will be the first time we see an absolute emission target from China.”
To achieve its climate goals, the Asian giant is massively expanding its renewable energy capacity.
If renewable capacity continues to grow at record levels, China’s emissions may have peaked in 2023, according to experts.
