General – China
China said on Wednesday it would develop a package of major projects to tackle climate change as it moves to bring its carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060.
The world’s largest producer of climate-warming greenhouse gas said it would develop new offshore wind farms and accelerate the construction of ‘new energy bases’ across its vast desert areas, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s economic planner, said in an official report published on Wednesday.
“China will actively and prudently work towards peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality,” the report read.
Among the proposed projects cited in the report by the state planning agency was a controversial hydropower facility on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet, which has raised concerns in India about its potential impact on downstream water flows.
It also said it would develop a direct power transmission route connecting Tibet with Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong in the southeast.
However, coal will remain a key fuel, with the NDRC report saying the country will continue to increase coal production and supply this year even as it plans to trial low-carbon technology at its coal-fired power plants and promote initiatives aimed at substituting fossil fuels with renewables.
China is not expected to meet its five-year goal of reducing carbon intensity by 18% by the end of this year, and it has not yet announced an annual target for 2025.
