Beijing warns 4 Chinese provinces over ‘lax’ enforcement of energy-saving goals under 2025 plan
- Energy-saving situation ‘very serious’ for Hubei, Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai, online statement from National Development and Reform Commission says
- Warning follows series of meetings with local NDRC officials, with the statement highlighting ‘lax’ evaluation and ‘weak management’
The provinces of Hubei, Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai have been warned over slow progress towards energy efficiency goals, economic planning body the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in an online statement released on Saturday.
Officials from the body’s environmental resources department held a series of meetings over the past week with local NDRC representatives from the four provinces to issue the warnings, the statement said.
The NDRC repeated demands and directions set by President Xi Jinping as well as requirements in China’s 14th five-year plan, reminding regional officials of the priority given to energy conservation.
Energy intensity, a measure of energy efficiency, is one of the compulsory goals under the plan, which lays down the blueprint for social and economic development between 2020 and 2025 for China – the world’s top carbon emitter.
Regional efforts to reduce carbon emissions must be carried out at “higher levels with high quality” to achieve “maximum benefits” at “minimum cost”, officials were told.
“In the first two years of the 14th five-year plan, energy consumption in Hubei, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai and other regions grew rapidly,” the NDRC statement said.