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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A village in a county under the city of Nyingchi in the Tibet autonomous region. The Qinghai-Tibet plateau accounts for up to 16 per cent of China’s total carbon sink, ecology experts have said. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 4:18pm, 14 Sep 2023Updated: 7:08pm, 14 Sep 2023

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.

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.

The plateau now accounts for 8 to 16 per cent of China’s total carbon sink, the experts said.