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Tibet can play ‘greater’ role in China’s carbon neutrality goals, regional chief says
- Annual carbon sink capacity relative to emissions indicates Tibet has reached ‘carbon neutrality’, ecological development forum hears
- Tibet could play a ‘greater’ role in helping China achieve its dual carbon targets, regional head Yan Jinhai tells audience
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China’s Tibet autonomous region has achieved a state of carbon neutrality, with total emissions falling below the levels absorbed by the regional ecosystem, researchers and local officials said.
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The achievement of “overall neutrality” shows Tibet could play a “greater” role in helping China realise its dual carbon targets, regional government head Yan Jinhai told a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau ecological development forum on Sunday.
China aims to achieve peak carbon emissions by 2030 and net carbon neutrality by 2060, under a pledge made to the United Nations by President Xi Jinping in 2020.
The Qinghai-Tibet plateau absorbs a total of 162 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, Chinese official news agency Xinhua quoted experts at Sunday’s forum as saying.
The 2.5 million square km (0.9 million square mile) plateau – with an average elevation of 4,500m (14,763 feet) – is the largest and highest in the world. It encompasses all of Tibet along with parts of bordering provinces, including much of Qinghai.
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The plateau now accounts for 8 to 16 per cent of China’s total carbon sink, the experts said.
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