China’s top energy officials dampened hopes that the country’s carbon emissions have already peaked Thursday following July reports the country would stop increasing emissions after this year, according to Bloomberg.
China’s carbon emissions were largely reported in July to be on track to decline or plateau annually this year following data suggesting a reduction in coal usage and an increase in green energy output. However, Song Wen, the head of law and institutional reform at China’s National Energy Administration, downplayed the rumors Thursday, adding that even meeting China’s original carbon emissions target of peaking by 2030 will require “great efforts,” Bloomberg reported.
“We should not forget that China is still a developing country, pursuing modernization for a huge population,” Wen told Bloomberg at a press briefing Thursday. “Great efforts are still needed to achieve the goals of peak carbon and carbon neutrality.”
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Wen’s comments come the week before an expected meeting between President Joe Biden’s top climate aide John Podesta and China’s top energy official Liu Zhenmin to discuss environmental collaboration efforts and reducing greenhouse gas emissions beyond just carbon dioxide, such as methane and nitrogen oxide. Both methane and nitrogen oxide are associated with the burning of coal.
China accounted for two-thirds of the world’s new coal plants in 2023 after approving an average of two plants per week the year prior, according to The New York Times and a study from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. The country was responsible for roughly half of global coal production and consumption as of February 2023.
“When it comes to coal, given that China is such an overwhelming part, whatever happens there really defines the global trend,” Li Shuo, the director of China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told NYT in April.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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