China reduces carbon intensity by 2024, but still falls short of key targets

China's economy has become less carbon-intensive last year, thanks to a record increase in renewable energy capacity. However, the country is still far short of its 2025 goal.

In its annual bulletin, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that by 2024, China's largest producer of greenhouse gases (which warm up the climate) will have reduced its carbon intensity from 3.4% to 3.4%. This was lower than the 3.9% target.

Carbon intensity is the amount of carbon dioxide produced per unit economic growth.

China does not have a specific goal for reducing absolute CO2 emissions, but it has set an 18% reduction in intensity between 2021-2025 as part of its longer-term goal to reach a CO2 peak by 2030.

China's stated goals for 2023 were not met due to a surge in energy consumption following the COVID. Last year, China promised to "redouble its efforts" to get back on track.

Lauri Myllyvirta is the lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. She said that China only achieved a 8% reduction in intensity from 2020 to 2024. This makes the 2025 goal "extremely difficult" to reach.

Myllyvirta stated that China's commitment at the United Nations to cut carbon intensity by over 65% between 2005 and 2030 could become even more difficult.

He added that "even with optimistic assumptions for the year 2025, CO2 intensities must drop by 22% over the next five years."

The statistics bureau reported that China's fossil-fuel energy consumption per unit economic growth dropped by 3.8% in 2020, exceeding an annual target of only 2.5%. The country wants to reduce energy intensity by 13.5% between 2021 and 2025. (Reporting and editing by Christopher Cushing, Rachna uppal, and David Stanway)

(source: Reuters)