{"id":8843,"date":"2021-11-03T08:00:54","date_gmt":"2021-11-03T08:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=8843"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:49:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:49:21","slug":"will-china-lead-the-world-in-industrial-decarbonisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/will-china-lead-the-world-in-industrial-decarbonisation\/","title":{"rendered":"COP26: Will China lead the world in industrial decarbonisation?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the third article of our COP26 series, we look at how China has the potential to take the lead in cost-effective, scalable solutions to help decarbonise industrial sectors, based on insights from engineering firm Wood<\/h2>\n

As the eyes of the world turn towards Glasgow, the momentum behind the net zero agenda continues to gather pace. The recent IPCC report, which signalled \u2018a code red for humanity,\u2019 underlined the pressing need to move beyond just setting net zero commitments and instead taking concrete actions that drive near-term reductions in carbon emissions.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that COP26 is being viewed as a bellwether moment. Agreements struck in Glasgow will determine if the world can get on track with the goals set out in the Paris Agreement and avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. And while the scale of the challenge means every country across the globe has a role to play, how large and rapidly growing economies in Asia (China, India and Indonesia) evolve over the next decade will have a particularly significant bearing on whether the promise of a net zero future can be realised.<\/p>\n

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China\u2019s role at the heart of decarbonisation<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
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China is a particularly interesting case. It\u2019s the world\u2019s largest single emitter of CO2 (albeit not on a per capita basis) and was responsible for 28% of global CO2 emissions in 2020. The country remains heavily reliant on hydrocarbons as a primary energy source, including coal, and its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) rating is still inconsistent with holding global warming to well below 2\u2103.<\/p>\n

Given the scale of these figures, it\u2019s clear that any progress that China makes on its own decarbonisation agenda will have a major bearing on global progress. Encouragingly, in late 2020, China committed to binding targets when President Xi set dual goals to achieve peak carbon by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, in the latest five-year plan<\/a> (FYP) issued earlier this year, the Chinese leadership set additional targets including a goal to reduce carbon intensity by 18% by 2025 and establish \u2018a modern energy system\u2019, including a goal to increase non-fossil fuel primary energy usage to 20% in the same window.<\/p>\n