China publishes annual climate report – 2020 carbon intensity target achieved early

At a press conference on November 27th, Xie Zhenhua, China’s special representative on climate change, presented the results of the government’s annual report “China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change (2018)”. At the end of 2017, China’s carbon emission per unit of GDP has decreased by about 46% compared to 2005. That means that China has achieved its 2020 goal of reducing carbon intensity by 40% to 45% three years ahead of schedule. The carbon intensity target is both included in China’s current five-year plan and the country’s Copenhagen pledge. The target for forest stocks has already been exceeded, with an increase of 2.1 billion cubic meters compared to 2005 levels. The target is set at 1.3 billion cubic metres. Xie Zhenhua expects the third main target is to increase the share of non-fossil energy to 15% by 2020. By the end of last year, the share of non-fossil energy accounted for 13.8%. Read more