China has taken active steps to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to a climate change expert.

Xu Huaqing, director of the Energy Research Institute at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), made the comments in an interview on Thursday.

A recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) said by 2009 China would surpass the United States to be the top emitter of CO2. The previous forecast predicted this would happen in 2020.

"It is not surprising given China's growing dependence on coal consumption, driven by rapid economic growth over the past years," Xu said.

The IEA conclusion was based on two assumptions that by 2009 CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels in the US would hold steady and that China's energy consumption structure would not change dramatically before then.

China is expected to consume the equivalent of 2.5 billion tons of coal in 2009, which will release about 5.8 billion tons of CO2 under the current calculation of CO2 emission per unit of primary energy. The CO2 emissions will be equivalent to the amount the United States released in 2004, Xu said.

With a population five times that of the United States, China has a per-capita CO2 emission that is much lower than those of developed countries.

But with its CO2 emissions continuing to increase, China will face great pressure from the international community to make a commitment to reduce emissions.

"Who will become No 1 and when is not the biggest concern here," said Zhang Jianyu, a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University.

"But what's rather alarming is that neither country has set a firm cap on their emissions. Both countries are large emitters and must do something."

1

2

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)