China releases official opinions on peaking carbon emissions, achieving carbon neutrality

On October 24, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and China’s State Council released Opinions on the Implementation of Carbon Emissions Peaking and Carbon Neutrality through the Complete, Accurate, Total and Thorough Application of New Development Principles. The opinions present the following goals:

• Goals for 2025: Reduce energy consumption by 13.5 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by 18 percent from 2020 in relation to GDP
• Goals for 2030: Increase the total installed capacity of wind and solar power above 1.2 billion kW and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 65 percent or more from 2005 in relation to GDP

Here is an overview of the opinions.

Control blind growth of energy and emissions intensive projects

• Issue policies to control the production capacity of the petrochemical, coal chemical and other industries
• Ban the establishment, renewal and expansion of oil-refining projects and ethylene, para-xylene and petroleum-based olefin production projects unless they are part of an industrial plan involving the state
• Set higher standards for energy and emissions intensive projects entering the market

Promote green and low carbon industries

• Accelerate the development of strategic new industries, including biotechnology, new energy, new materials, advanced machinery and new energy vehicles

Place stricter regulations on energy consumption and carbon emissions

• Control the total energy consumption appropriately and establish a regulatory system for the total carbon emissions
• Put stricter regulations on greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide as well, including methane
• Promote energy conservation in key sectors, including industry, and improve the energy efficiency of infrastructure, such as data centers

Policies for products

• Rigorously control the export of energy and emissions intensive products while increasing the import of environmentally conscious products, such as low carbon ones
• Set stricter limits on the energy consumption of key products and apply the limits to a broader range of products
• Create greenhouse gas emissions standards for key industries and key products and develop a labeling system for low carbon products
• Develop green public procurement standards and promote the procurement of green and low carbon products

The full text of the opinions (in simplified Chinese) is available at
https://www.mee.gov.cn/zcwj/zyygwj/202110/t20211024_957580.shtml