'China forecasts carbon reduction for 4th year'

For the fourth consecutive year, China has forecast a drop in its carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels, said environment organisation Greenpeace East Asia's report on Tuesday.

China is the world's top emitter of CO2, followed by the US.

The report, which was an analysis of China's National Energy Administration forecasts for 2017, said that the reduction in CO2 was by approximately one per cent.

"This would be the fourth year in a row of either zero growth or a decline in CO2 emissions... this reinforces China's growing status as a global climate leader, and sends a strong signal to US President (Donald) Trump," Greenpeace said.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency 2011 report, China was responsible for 28 per cent of the total global CO2 emission coming from the fossil fuels.

This was followed by the US at 16 per cent, while India was responsible for 6 per cent of carbon emission.

On Tuesday, Greenpeace said that while Trump's administration vows to backtrack from the global climate change initiatives (including the Paris Agreement), China with its increasing renewable energy sector was now in the race for world environment leadership.

"The US should be one of the countries leading the world on climate action, doubling down on renewable energy and drastically cutting emissions. Instead, we are a global roadblock, thanks to Trump and his cabinet of billionaires," Greenpeace's US Executive Director Annie Leonard said.

A 2016 report released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China's fall in coal use over past two years was equal to Japan's total yearly coal consumption.

"Data released in January shows that China is also smashing records for solar panel installations, installing enough panels to cover three football pitches every single hour of the year," Greenpeace said.

Greenpeace East Asia claims that China was virtually certain to overachieve its 2020 climate targets.

"After almost two decades of relentless growth, China's CO2 emissions have remained stable since 2013, after levelling off in 2014 and falling for the first time in 2015," Greenpeace said.

In 2016, China's total energy consumption grew 1.4 per cent, however, the country managed to drop the coal consumption by approximately 1.3 per cent, while coal output shrank by a dramatic 9 per cent.

Meanwhile, the non-fossil energy continued to grow at a rapid 12 per cent, meeting China's electricity demand growth since 2013.

During the Marrakech Climate Talks (Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) held in November 2016, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), a global scientific analysis, produced by three international research organisations also praised China for reducing its carbon emissions.

However, the report also pointed out the absence of commitments on other greenhouse gases in China, due to which the emissions would continue to increase until at least 2030.

--IANS

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