China plans to cut carbon intensity by around 3.8% in 2026

2026-03-05 - 05:33

The plan calls for replacing 30 million tonnes per year of coal with renewables and pushing to reach peak coal, but did not put further limits on coal consumption. (EPA Images pic) BEIJING: China plans to reduce its carbon intensity, or carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product, by 17% during its current five-year plan, according to official documents released on Thursday, an acceleration from the period from 2020 to 2025. China’s new five-year plan, released on Thursday, called for replacing 30 million tonnes per year of coal with renewables and pushing to reach peak coal, but did not put further limits on coal consumption. During the five-year plan that ended last year, China reduced its carbon intensity by 12%. In 2026, it plans to cut its carbon intensity by around 3.8%, according to a report from China’s top state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). China has said it expects that its carbon emissions will peak before 2030. The new carbon intensity goal fell short of some analysts’ expectations. Research from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air found that China would need to accelerate the pace of its carbon intensity reductions to 23% over the next five years after it lagged on a Paris Agreement commitment to reduce carbon intensity by more than 65% by 2030 as compared to 2005. “How quickly carbon intensity is reduced largely depends on how much renewable energy can be supplied,” said Yao Zhe, a Beijing-based policy advisor for Greenpeace East Asia. In the next five years, China will also introduce a mandatory minimum quota system for renewable energy consumption, the NDRC report said. In a speech to the UN last year, president Xi Jinping said China would increase its wind and solar power capacity, already the world’s largest, by six times from 2020 levels to 3,600GW by 2035. But China is expected to exceed that target based on current capacity building levels. China has not yet released an outright emissions reduction target for 2030. Last year, Xi said in a speech to the UN that China would peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and reduce emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035. China’s carbon emissions fell 0.3% last year thanks to reductions in the transport, power, cement and metals sectors, but it is not yet clear whether emissions will go up again before peaking. This year marks the beginning of a planned shift from focusing on controlling the energy intensity of its economy to focusing on carbon intensity. In its plan, the NDRC did not include further details on the so-called “dual control” system and how it would be implemented. The NDRC said that efforts would be made to replace coal with clean energy, as well as to phase out outdated coal-fired equipment and facilities. But it did not mention a previous commitment to phase down coal during the 2026 to 2030 five-year plan. According to the five-year plan, China will push to peak its coal as well as its oil consumption over the period.