Chinese companies will need to reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions of their operations by up to 2.7 percent a year if China is to stay on track with the level of action required to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, according to a report released by WWF-China and Ecofys.
Additionally, the electricity sector will need to show a decline of about 8 percent a year.
The report, It’s Time to Peak, aims to show how Chinese companies can develop emission reduction targets that are science-based, technologically possible and in line with a global 2 degree scenario.
China surpassed the US as the world’s largest GHG emitter and is responsible for roughly a quarter of the global emissions. Building on existing scenarios for China, the study shows that China should peak its emissions sooner rather than later in order to achieve the deep GHG emission reductions required in the rest of the century.
Late last year the US and China set ambitious climate change goals, with Chinese president Xi Jinping announcing targets to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 or sooner and to increase China’s non-fossil fuel share of energy to around 20 percent by 2030.
