Are China’s provinces doing their bit to help hit national climate change goals?

Name: China completes its first greenhouse gas observation network
Uploaded: 2022-01-16T10:00:16.000Z
Duration: 1 min 8 s
Description: China completes its first greenhouse gas observation network

China has pledged to reach peak emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060 but many local governments have yet to spell out what they will do

Areas whose economies rely on heavy industry or coal face a particular challenge in making a rapid transformation

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Industrial areas will face a major challenge in overhauling their economies. Photo: Reuters

Echo Xie

Published: 6:00pm, 16 Jan 2022

It has been almost a year and a half since Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged that China would aim to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

But few provinces have yet to produce detailed plans outlining how they will help the country reach these goals.

01:08

China completes its first greenhouse gas observation network

A meeting of top policymakers in December was warned that the nation’s energy supply was still dominated by coal and that some provinces where fossil fuels played a key part in the economy would struggle to transition to a low-carbon economy.

Other parts of the country have already hit peak emissions and their challenge is whether they can achieve carbon neutrality more quickly.

Here is a rundown of the situation in some of the most important parts of the country.

Hebei

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