Published: 17:23, January 2, 2024 | Updated: 17:31, January 2, 2024
Document: $45.5 trillion needed to reach China's carbon goals
By Hou Liqiang

This aerial photo taken on Nov 16, 2023 shows the Dingdongpo wind power-photovoltaic project in Tongren, Guizhou province, China. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

China will need to spend about 324 trillion yuan ($45.5 trillion), roughly 2.7 times its GDP in 2022, to realize its climate targets of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and going carbon neutral before 2060, according to estimates in a recent document.

"Broadly speaking, China needs an enormous amount of money to tackle climate change," China's Fourth National Communication on Climate Change said. It was submitted to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the end of last year.

China will need to spend far more to reach carbon neutrality in the three decades after carbon dioxide emissions peak, it showed.

From 2021 to 2060, the country will need to spend about 324 trillion yuan to forge ahead with climate mitigation and adaptation, the document said, with 35.8 trillion yuan of that to be spent between 2021 and 2030.

READ MORE: China to pilot carbon-peaking in 100 cities, zones

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's GDP reached 120.47 trillion yuan in 2022.