China by 2020 aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 18 percent from 2015 levels, the nation’s State Council announced last week.
The State Council, the Chinese government’s top administrative authority, said in a statement it has established a new plan for a nationwide “low carbon energy revolution.” “By 2020, carbon emissions will be restrained as total energy consumption will be kept within five billion tons of standard coal and energy consumption per unit of GDP will be 15 percent lower than in 2015,” the release says.
Components of this plan include:
- Encouraging energy conservation in industry, construction, and public transport.
- Developing additional non-fossil-fuel energy sources including nuclear, wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass power.
- The nation will consume no more than 4.2 billion tons of coal in 2020. “Efforts will also be made to create low carbon industries, and by 2020 carbon dioxide emissions per industrial added value will be 22 percent lower than in 2015,” the State Council said.
- Creation of a carbon emissions trading plan encompassing eight industries, including petrochemical, steel, paper manufacturing, and aviation.
China is the world’s No. 1 emitter of greenhouse gases. Its ratification of the Paris Agreement in September, alongside the United States, was a major driver in the climate change accord’s entry into force on Friday.
While local governments in 2015 signed off on building hundreds of coal-fired power plants, the central government has sought to curb this growth, The Associated Press reported. First, central planners this year ordered the suspension of authorizations for building new coal facilities. Energy officials in October then halted work on dozens of unfinished facilities around the nation.