(Bloomberg) -- China’s rapid deployment of clean energy has made it possible for the nation to achieve more ambitious goals to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
The world’s biggest polluter can cut its carbon dioxide emissions by at least 30% by 2035 by continuing trends in the power sector and extending efforts in other industries, researchers including Lauri Myllyvirta and Belinda Schaepe said in a report released Thursday. They urged China’s policymakers to seize on the momentum of its clean energy roll-out as they prepare to submit new climate targets to the United Nations by February, alongside other countries.
“China’s new climate targets for the next decade, more than anything else, will decide the success of global climate efforts,” Myllyvirta said, referring to collective attempts to keep temperatures from rising more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
The country’s embrace of electric vehicles, as well as wind and solar power, means it may have already peaked emissions more than a half-decade ahead of schedule. In addition to this success, the government should also reform policies to reduce emissions in other industrial sectors and ensure energy demand growth eases as expected, the researchers said.
Policies to boost electric arc furnaces and green hydrogen in steel-making could reduce coal use in that industry, and it will be important to rein in emissions from the fast-growing chemicals sector by including it in carbon markets and other climate targets, they said. Extending already fruitful efforts to plant new forests and electrify transportation will also be important.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
