By David Stanway
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – China’s economy became less carbon intensive last year as a result of a record surge in renewable energy capacity, official data showed on Friday, but the country remains well short of its 2025 target.
The world’s biggest producer of climate-warming greenhouse gases reduced its carbon intensity by 3.4% in 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics said in its annual bulletin. That was below its goal of 3.9%.
Carbon intensity measures how much carbon dioxide is produced per unit of economic growth.
While China has not yet set a goal to reduce absolute carbon emission levels, it is aiming to cut intensity by 18% over the 2021-2025 period, part of a longer term goal to bring its CO2 to a peak before 2030.
China fell behind on its stated targets in 2023 after a post-COVID surge in energy consumption, and last year promised to “redouble efforts” in order to get back on track.
China has only managed to cut intensity by 8% from 2020 to 2024, making the 2025 target “extremely hard” to achieve, said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst with the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
China’s commitment to the United Nations to reduce carbon intensity by more than 65% from 2005 to 2030 could also become more challenging, Myllyvirta said.
“Even with optimistic assumptions for 2025, CO2 intensity must fall by 22% in the next five-year period,” he added.
China’s fossil fuel energy consumption per unit of economic growth fell by 3.8% in 2024, beating an annual target of 2.5%, the statistics bureau said. The country aims to cut energy intensity by 13.5% from 2021 to 2025.
(Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Rachna Uppal)
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