China cuts carbon emissions per unit of GDP by half from 2005

Aerial photo taken on Sept. 8, 2021 shows a wind farm of the Daqing wind power project in Daqing, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

JINAN, June 15 (Xinhua) -- China has made great achievements in carbon reduction, with its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2021 plunging by 50.3 percent from 2005, an official said Wednesday.

Last year, the share of coal in China's total energy-consumption mix dropped to 56 percent from 72.4 percent in 2005, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Zhao Yingmin said at a National Low-carbon Day activity.

Non-fossil energy accounted for about 16.6 percent of China's total energy consumption in 2021, while the installed capacity of renewable energy accounted for 44.8 percent of the country's total.

China also led the world in wind and photovoltaic power generation, with the installed capacity of both exceeding 300 million kilowatts last year, Zhao said.

In the same period, China's national carbon market recorded a trading volume of 179 million tonnes, with the total turnover topping 7.66 billion yuan (1.13 billion U.S. dollars).

China has seen continuous improvements in adapting to climate change and public awareness of low-carbon life, Zhao said, noting that the country will make further efforts to coordinate carbon and pollution reduction with land greening and economic development.

The National Low-carbon Day was set up in 2012 to encourage the whole society to participate in green and low-carbon initiatives.