Combating Climate Change

By Lan Xinzhen

After the U.S. announced its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in 2017， many thought the international initiative to cope with climate change would be weakened. But the past two years have shown that this is not the case. Countries upholding their commitment to the agreement are actively implementing measures as planned， with good results.

According to Chinas Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change （2019）， released by Chinas Ministry of Ecology and Environment （MEE） on November 27， carbon intensity in China decreased by 45.8 percent from 2005 to 2018， basically reversing the trend of the rapid growth of greenhouse gas emissions.

This figure shows that China has fulfilled its pledge ahead of schedule to slash carbon intensity by 40-45 percent from 2005 to 2020. This also illustrates that as a major power， China is shouldering its due responsibility on the global and urgent issue of climate change.

Currently， China is facing many challenges as the worlds largest developing country， including economic growth， the improvement of peoples livelihood， the elimination of poverty and pollution treatment. The situation is especially grim under the pressure of U.S.-imposed tariffs. However， China has not shaken off its obligations to fighting climate change because of U.S. bullying or domestic pressures.

The Chinese Government has adopted an array of measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions， such as industrial restructuring， more energy saving and effi ciency schemes， the optimization of an energy mix， more carbon sinks and more pilot programs on low carbon， among others.

China has sacrifi ced its own economic growth to fulfi ll its promises： from 2016 to 2018， China accumulatively reduced the production capacity of more than 150 million tons of crude steel， with more than 35 million tons for 2018 alone. From 2018 to July 2019， China dissolved 12.65 million tons of surplus coal capacity， and from 2016 to 2018， China totally shut down more than 20 million kW of outdated coal-fi red power units.

For those units that remain， the Chinese Government has adopted compulsory measures to make them more energy efficient. As a result， consumption of coal-fired power dropped from 325 grams per kWh to the current 308 grams per kWh， producing the worlds cleanest and most effi cient coal-fi red power system.

Meanwhile， China is sparing no efforts to develop non-fossil energy sources. By the end of 2018， power generation capacity based on renewable energy was at 730 million kW， up 12 percent year on year， accounting for 38.3 percent of the total installed capacity. In addition， the countrys renewable electricity capacity was 1.9 trillion kWh， 26.7 percent of total power generation.