Goal for national greenhouse gas monitoring system set for 2025

China plans to establish a national system to monitor and assess greenhouse gases by 2025 as the country endeavors to bring its climate targets into reality, a senior environmental official said on Wednesday. 

Bai Qiuyong, director-general of environmental monitoring at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, also said the ministry is proactively mulling over a plan to roll out pilot programs for such a system. 

A key target in the pilot programs will be major carbon emitters, such as the power generation and steel sectors. The ministry will encourage enterprises, when conditions permit, to play a leading and exploratory role in monitoring carbon dioxide generated from energy consumption and industrial processes, he said. 

He said the ministry organized a symposium participated by companies from 10 industrial sectors last week as it makes efforts to accelerate the work. 

Pilot monitoring will be rolled out for the concentrations of both carbon dioxide and methane, which is an even more potent greenhouse gas, in some major Chinese cities, he continued. 

He said China also plans to enhance its capabilities in figuring out both regional and background greenhouse gas densities. In addition to upgrading facilities in monitoring facilities, the country will resort to more remote sensing monitoring facilities, such as satellite and unmanned aerial vehicle. 

China aims to peak its carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and go carbon neutral before 2060.