cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3536782
China should set a “strong but achievable” target of slashing emissions at least 30 percent by 2035 when it submits updated climate commitments in coming months, a report urged Thursday.
Signatories to the 2015 Paris climate accord must announce by next February their updated roadmaps to achieve the treaty’s goal of limiting global temperature rises.
China currently aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2060.
But its policies and targets are rated “highly insufficient” to limit global warming to 1.5 Celcius above pre-industrial levels, according to the Climate Action Tracker project.
The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a think tank that tracks climate progress, said Beijing should aim for an absolute emissions reduction target of 30 percent.
As the world’s largest emitter, China’s “ambition in its climate agenda is decisive for keeping the international community on track,” CREA said in a report.
To meet that target, Beijing would need to slash electricity sector emissions by 30 percent and emissions from industry by a quarter. It should also set a target of reducing non-CO2 emissions by more than 35 percent, the group said.
[…]
But Teng Fei, deputy director of Tsinghua University’s Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, called the “extreme” goal of a 30 percent emissions cut “too ambitious to be achievable”.
“I think China is in the process of stabilising its emissions, so it’s quite uncertain, for this period, to what extent China can reduce its overall emissions,” he said.
China is currently moving to bolster its flagging housing market, which could trigger higher demand in industry, and increase emissions.
[…]
Coal installation is continuing [in China] in a bid to secure baseload supply, and methane emissions are also rising.
[…]
From your own source, the EU emitted 5.6 tonnes per person in 2022. It doesn’t show per capita numbers for China, but it does show a total value of 10,613,171,000 tonnes for 2022. Divide that by 1.412 billion for China’s population and you get 7.5 tonnes per person
Consumption-based emissions, to account for the balance of imports and exports in China and the EU, do put Europe’s per-capita emission above China’s. But it’s by 10% in 2021, and the trend shows the gap narrowing year on year as China’s net emissions increase and Europe’s decrease.
The investment they’re making into clean power is great. It just doesn’t cancel out the simultaneous expansion of fossil fuel usage.