Nation curbs rapid growth of emissions to help meet commitments

China has managed to curb the rapid growth of greenhouse gas emissions by lowering carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 4 percent in 2018, and the country will continue to make all-out efforts to honor its reduction pledge for 2030, a senior environmental official said on Wednesday.

The decrease is 0.1 percentage point greater than expected. It means that carbon intensity last year in China was 45.8 percent lower than 2005 levels, achieving its goal of decreasing carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent ahead of the 2020 deadline, according to Zhao Yingmin, vice-minister of ecology and environment. Carbon intensity is the measure of carbon produced per unit of GDP.

The decline can be translated into a total emissions reduction of 5.26 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from 2005 to 2018, he added.