China’s man-made carbon emissions grew by 0.6 percent in 2024, a marked slowdown from the previous year and below the global average rise of 0.8 percent, according to the China Greenhouse Gas Bulletin released on Wednesday by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).
Officials said the figures showed that China’s efforts to meet its climate commitments were achieving results, China Daily reported. In September, Beijing unveiled its first absolute targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, with President Xi Jinping pledging to reduce economy-wide net emissions by 7 to 10 percent from peak levels by 2035.
Carbon dioxide concentrations varied around the country last year, with the Waliguan Baseline Observatory in Northwest China’s Qinghai province clocking 424.9 parts per million (ppm). That was above the global average of 423.9 ppm and on par with the world’s year-on-year rise of 3.5 ppm – the biggest increase since modern measurements started in 1957.
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Other regional atmospheric background stations performed better, clocking smaller increases.
According to a report published in Carbon Brief, China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been “flat or falling” since March 2024 – with emissions from transport and cement production showing significant decreases. The report noted that the rise in electric vehicle usage and an ongoing real estate contraction were behind those two declines.
The CMA’s findings followed the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)’s global bulletin in October, which warned that concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – continued to climb overall in 2024. The WMO attributed the surge to persistent fossil fuel use, weakened land and ocean carbon sinks caused by extreme heat, and increased emissions from global wildfires.
China has now released its greenhouse gas monitoring data for 14 consecutive years. The CMA said it operates a national network comprising one global baseline observatory (Waliguan), 18 regional stations and more than 120 monitoring sites.
