China releases plan to guide carbon-intensive industries to reach peak emissions by 2030
- By 2025 companies in seven sectors with annual revenue of US$2.9 million have been ordered to cut energy use by 13.5 per cent from 2020 levels, according to the plan
- The steel sector has been asked to achieve annual recycling capacity of 180 million tonnes of scrap iron and steel by 2025
Seven industrial sectors in China have been assigned targets to reduce energy consumption and boost recycling to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
Industrial enterprises with annual revenue of 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million) or more have been ordered to reduce their energy consumption by 13.5 per cent by 2025 compared with 2020 levels, according to a joint plan published on Monday by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) along with the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
By 2030, the aim is to establish a modern industrial system with “high efficiency, green, circular and low-carbon characteristics”, the plan noted.
Companies in steel, building materials, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals, consumer goods, equipment manufacturing and electronics sectors will be subject to the new rules.
For the steel sector, which contributes about 15 per cent of the nation’s total carbon emissions, the plan called for an annual recycling capacity of 180 million tonnes of scrap iron and steel by 2025. By 2030, the steel sector is also expected to achieve technological breakthroughs in cutting carbon emissions.
President Xi Jinping announced two years ago that China, the world’s largest emitter which contributed to one-third of global total carbon emissions, will aim to peak national emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. China’s industrial sectors together contributed to roughly 50 per cent of national total carbon emissions in 2021.
