China Dampens Green Hopes of an Early Peak in Carbon Emissions
- Officials highlight China is still “pursuing modernization”
- Surge in clean energy has led to lower fossil fuel generation
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China’s top energy officials downplayed growing speculation that the country’s carbon emissions have already peaked years ahead of target, saying on Thursday that just meeting the goal on time still required “great efforts.”
While China is confident that it will achieve its goal of hitting peak emissions before 2030, domestic energy demand is still growing and the outlook is uncertain, said Song Wen, head of law and institutional reform at the National Energy Administration. Song was responding to a question about whether surging clean-power generation had helped the world’s top polluter turn a corner.