Coronavirus: Study finds lockdown may have helped cut China’s carbon emissions

China, the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, may have seen its first decline in carbon emissions in three years as a result of the deadly coronavirus epidemic, which has shut down much of the country, a new study has found.

The study, released on Wednesday by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) in Finland, said that China’s carbon emissions have dropped by about 100 million metric tonnes over the past two weeks because of the extensive economic impact of the outbreak and the government’s lockdown measures – which have led to repeated delays in the resumption of industrial operations and a sharp reduction in energy demand.

China produces more than 25 per cent of the world’s total emissions of greenhouse gases, and despite a three-year decrease from 2014 to 2016, its carbon emissions have since rebounded, largely because of the country’s reliance on coal as an energy source.

CREA and other environmental groups have previously determined that China was predominantly responsible for the rise of global carbon emissions last year.

The researchers, though, cautioned that the emissions drop was expected to be temporary as Beijing has been keen to revive industrial activities.

“The Chinese government’s coming stimulus measures in response to the disruption could outweigh these shorter-term impacts on energy and emissions, as it did after the global financial crisis and the 2015 domestic economic downturn,” the report said. “The key factor determining the size of this impact is how fast things return to normal.”