China’s use of coal in its energy mix continued to decline in 2020, but more aggressive measures may be needed to reduce emissions in order to meet Beijing’s climate goals.
President Xi Jinping pledged China would target carbon neutrality by 2060 in a Sept. 22 speech to the United Nations. While he didn’t lay out details, Xi’s announcement implies the nation’s emissions will have to sharply decline to reach net-zero in less than 30 years after peaking in 2030.
One proposal under consideration to accelerate China’s adoption of clean energy is to cut the share of coal in the energy mix to 52% by 2025, Bloomberg reported earlier. Still a gulf remains between China’s ambitious carbon-neutral goals and the desire of its companies to maintain breakneck growth.
The proportion of clean energy including natural gas, hydropower, nuclear and wind power in total energy use rose by 1.0 percentage points to 24.3% in 2020, according to China’s statistics bureau.