- China wants to boost its carbon trading capability.
- China’s latest official inventory, submitted to the UNFCCC, measured China’s greenhouse gas emissions at 11.55 billion tons.
China said it plans to take an annual inventory of its greenhouse gas emissions as it tries to boost its carbon trading capability and ensure it meets its climate targets. China’s cabinet said the government aims to “compile a year-by-year national greenhouse gas inventory” to halt emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
The world’s biggest carbon polluter has not previously published annual updates about how much greenhouse gas it produces. Still, it has been obliged to submit figures to the United Nations every five years. Its latest official inventory, submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the end of the year, covered 2017 and measured China’s greenhouse gas emissions at 11.55 billion tons, with carbon dioxide accounting for more than 80 per cent.
The logging of methane emissions, which accounted for an estimated 11.8 per cent of total greenhouse gas in 2017, remains a major challenge. China has acknowledged the data gap is holding back abatement efforts. China said in its United Nations submission that it had been working to improve the integrity of its statistics and bring them in line with international standards. It highlighted “uncertainties” in its estimates of greenhouse gas from road traffic and methane emissions from rice cultivation.