China to enhance to improve carbon footprint

China will strive to enhance the alignment of its carbon footprint accounting standards with international norms, as it forges ahead with establishing its carbon footprint management system, according to a document unveiled on Monday.

The guidelines for developing standards for product carbon footprint accounting were collaboratively released by five national government bodies, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the National Bureau of Statistics.

The country will beef up its research on the carbon footprint accounting standards of major global economies and international organizations, in order to strive to foster increased technical exchange with them on these matters, the document said.

Furthermore, it said that China, drawing from its national context, will actively promote the timely localization of relevant international standards.

The institutions tasked with setting accounting standards for fundamental energy, raw materials and key export products will be encouraged to perform both domestic and international comparative analyses of carbon footprint accounting methods and factor data, as outlined in the document.

China will also actively participate in the establishment of international standards for carbon footprint, the document said.

The plan will also emphasize the encouragement for associations, enterprises and research institutions to leverage the platforms provided by international standardization bodies like the International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission and the International Telecommunication Union.

They will be encouraged to promote active participation in revising and establishing global standards for carbon footprint measurement, it said. Furthermore, they are expected to propose international standards for the country's flagship products and drive their initiation, establishment and implementation.

The country will also tap other channels to promote the internationalization of its product carbon footprint accounting standards, including strengthening relevant dialogue and exchanges with international organizations such as the World Trade Organization, countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, the BRICS bloc and the country's trading partners.