China leads world in carbon-sink capacity of forests, grassland

BEIJING -- The annual carbon-sink capacity of China's forests and grassland has exceeded 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, ranking first in the world, an official said Wednesday.

A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases. Forests and grasslands are typically carbon sinks.

China has set ambitious goals of achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, taking a prominent role in the global fight against climate change.

China's unavoidable carbon emissions are predicted to reach approximately 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2060, and forests and grassland will be able to absorb over half of them, thus contributing significantly to carbon neutrality, said Guo Qingjun, an official of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

To increase the carbon-sink capacity, China will move to expand the area of forests and grassland, as well as stepping up efforts to protect these resources, Guo said at a press conference on ecological conservation and restoration a day ahead of National Ecology Day.

Last year, China's top legislature voted to designate Aug 15 as the country's National Ecology Day, with the aim of enhancing public awareness and actions to protect the ecological environment.