China issues action plan to reach carbon emission peak by 2030

According to the plan, non-fossil fuels in China’s energy consumption is set to increase from 16% in 2020 to 25% by 2030, targeting a 65% drop in carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP from the 2005 level.

The plan lists some industrial sectors which are set to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 including steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials and petrochemicals.

It also aims to develop wind and solar power on a large scale to increase installed wind and solar capacity to 1200 gigawatts (GW) from 535GW in 2020. It aims to expand hydropower by 80GW and increase energy storage capacity to 120GW by 2030. China’s total energy storage capacity currently stands at about 35GW.

The plan says the country targets to install over 30 GWs of new energy storage by 2025. By 2030, the installed capacity of pumped storage power plants will reach 120 GWs.

Finance expert Kanyi Lui of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law, said: “China is aggressively replacing coal with clean energy and, in order to meet its announced policy goals, an enormous capacity building exercise is underway. If history is anything to go by, one could expect to see Chinese clean energy players to begin offering extremely competitive solutions on the belt and road and beyond fairly quickly.” 

The country will also develop a standardised carbon emission statistical accounting system, set up a green finance standard system, study to build a national low-carbon transition fund, and to launch more supportive system for carbon emissions trading market domestically.

China’s carbon market started trading on national scale in August, which followed its previous pilot scheme launched in 2011 in seven cities.

In 2020 China announced its goal to have carbon emission peak by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.