Climate target calls for reducing billions of emissions before 2030

Upgraded climate commitments made by China mean the nation will reduce extra carbon dioxide emissions in the multi-billion metric tons before 2030, a senior official said.

China will lower its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, or carbon intensity, by more than 65 percent from the 2005 level and increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to about 25 percent by 2030, President Xi Jinping announced at the Climate Ambition Summit via video link.

The new targets are much higher than those set by the country in 2015.

Previously, China vowed to lower its carbon intensity by 60 to 65 percent from the 2005 level and increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to about 20 percent by 2030.

According to Xu Huaqing, director-general of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, preliminary calculations show that on the basis of a carbon intensity of 65 percent, China will have to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 160 million tons annually before 2030 for every one single percentage point of further decrease in the intensity.

He also said, on the basis of the previous target of increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to about 20 percent, the increase of every single extra percentage point in the share means the reduction of 130 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year before 2030.

President Xi also announced at the summit that the country will increase forest stock volume by 6 billion cubic meters from the 2005 level.

Xu said the new target is 1.5 billion cubic meters higher than the target China pledged in 2015. This will help absorb a lot more carbon dioxide. The increase of every 100 million cubic meters of forest stock volume can absorb 160 million tons of carbon dioxide.