China unveils plan to establish national carbon footprint management system

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in collaboration with 14 other national government bodies, has announced a comprehensive plan to manage carbon footprints, with the aim of contributing to the development of international rules for product carbon footprints by 2030.

By 2027, China aims to preliminarily establish a unified national system for managing carbon footprints, according to a media release from the ministry on Thursday. The country plans to develop national guidelines for calculating product carbon footprints in accordance with international standards and will establish calculation rules and standards for approximately 100 key products by then.

The plan includes setting up an institutional system for product carbon footprint labeling, authentication, and tiered management.

A carbon footprint represents the total greenhouse gas emissions and removals associated with a product, individual, household, institution, or business. Specifically, a product carbon footprint measures the total carbon emissions generated throughout a product's entire life cycle.

By 2030, the national carbon footprint management system will be further refined and applied in more diverse scenarios. The number of key products with specific carbon footprint calculation rules and standards will increase to 200.

China expects to make a significant contribution to the development of international product carbon footprint rules by that time.