Timeline

2015

・ Dec 12

The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, was adopted by 196 parties in Paris on Dec 12, 2015, and entered into force on Nov 4, 2016.

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, on climate change mitigation, adaptation and finance. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2 C, and preferably 1.5 C, compared to preindustrial levels.

As part of the agreement, China pledged to cut carbon emissions by unit of GDP by 60 to 65 percent by the year 2030, and to halt increasing its carbon emissions after that point.

2016

・ April 1

China along with the United States－the two countries that contribute to almost 40 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions－issued a joint statement confirming that both countries would sign the Paris Agreement.

・ April 22

China signed the Paris Agreement.

2018

・ March 28

China met its 2020 carbon intensity target－the amount of carbon dioxide it produces per unit of economic growth－three years ahead of schedule, according to the country's top climate official, Xie Zhenhua. In 2017, China cut its carbon intensity by 46 percent from 2005 levels.

2020

・ Sept 22

Speaking via video link at the General Debate of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Xi Jinping said China will aim to have carbon dioxide emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

2021

・ Jan 20

China's National Energy Administration announced the country added 48.2 gigawatts of solar power in 2020, a 60 percent rise on 2019.

・ March 5

Premier Li Keqiang said in the Government Work Report submitted at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress that China plans to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 13.5 percent and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 18 percent during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25). China will draw up an action plan for peaking carbon emissions by 2030. The premier said: "As a member of the global village, China will continue to take concrete steps to play its part in the global response to climate change."

・ March 15

The National Energy Administration said wind power generation in China is expected to continue increasing over the next five years and eventually account for 16.5 percent of the country's total power consumption by 2025.

・ March 19

A report by the Global Wind Energy Council, a Belgium-based international trade association, said China broke the world record for most wind power capacity installed in a single year in 2020, with 52 GW of new capacity－doubling the country's installation the previous year.

・ April 19

President Xi Jinping said China will seek to increase its solar and wind energy capacity to about 1.2 terawatts by the end of the year as the government seeks to bring carbon emissions to a peak by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060. This would help bring the proportion of nonfossil fuels in China's energy supply to 25 percent by the end of the decade.

・ July 16

China's long-awaited national carbon emissions trading program made its debut with 4.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide quotas worth 210 million yuan ($32 million) changing hands. It is the largest carbon market in the world by volume with more than 2,000 power plants, responsible for more than 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions, included in the first phase of trading. The establishment of the program was first pledged by President Xi Jinping ahead of the signing of the Paris climate accord.

Sources: China Daily and Xinhua