China’s CO2 emissions 9 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2021 first quarter: research
- About 70 per cent of the CO2 surge in the first quarter was because of increased coal consumption, CREA lead analyst says
- Rhodium Group study shows China’s total 2019 greenhouse gas emissions exceeded those from the whole of the OECD for the first time
China’s climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions rose 9 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 compared with pre-pandemic levels, driven by a carbon-intensive economic recovery and big increases in steel and cement output, research showed on Thursday.
In the 12 months since China began relaxing Covid-19 lockdowns, total CO2 emissions exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 7 per cent, setting the fastest rate of growth since 2012, according to Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst with the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Beijing has vowed to cut coal consumption, its biggest source of carbon emissions, but only after 2025.
Earlier this month, a study by the Rhodium Group think tank showed that China’s total 2019 greenhouse gas emissions exceeded those from the whole of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the first time. Per capita emissions were also close to OECD levels.
Coal is driving growth, but how will China achieve its climate goal?
Myllyvirta said China’s per capita emissions had almost certainly exceeded the OECD average this year.
Only Britain and the United States had registered levels comparable with “the extreme carbon intensity of China’s economic model”, he said, and that was more than a century ago when renewables were mostly unavailable.
As a developing country with lower historical greenhouse gas levels, China was not yet obliged to make absolute cuts in carbon emissions, and its five-year plan targets suggested they could rise by a further 5-10 per cent by 2025, Myllyvirta said.
