Report showed that China’s carbon emissions fell in September and have been flat or declining for 18 months since March 2024, suggesting that a full-year decrease may also be possible in 2025.

The rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) saw CO2 emissions from transport fuel drop by 5 percent year-on-year, while there were also declines from cement and steel production, read authoritative academic website on climate studies Carbon Brief’s Tuesday report.

The report was wrote by Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air’s lead analyst Lauri Myllyvirta.

It noted a full-year drop became much more likely after September, which recorded an approximately 3 percent drop in emissions year-on-year.

It highlighted the growth of wind and solar power generation in the third quarter, attributing this expansion in clean energy to a major factor behind the decline in China’s carbon emissions.

Power-sector emissions were broadly flat year-on-year, as strong growth in solar and wind generation, supported by modest gains in nuclear and hydropower, almost fully offset rising electricity demand. Meanwhile, transport-related emissions fell 5 percent, though overall oil consumption rose 2 percent, driven by a 10 percent increase in use in the chemical sector. Natural gas demand and emissions increased 3 percent over the same period.

In recent years, China has continued to advance market-based carbon reduction mechanisms and released catalogues for energy-saving and carbon-reducing technologies and major environmental protection equipment, guiding enterprises to adopt technologies that improve energy efficiency, lower emissions and reduce pollution.

China officially launched its national carbon emissions trading market in July 2021, covering sectors including power generation, steel, cement and aluminum smelting, and accounting for more than 60 percent of the country’s total carbon emissions, according to the country’s white paper on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality released on Saturday.

As of the end of September 2025, the market had recorded a cumulative trading volume of about 728 million tonnes of allowances, with a total turnover of approximately 49.83 billion yuan.

China also launched its national voluntary greenhouse gas emissions reduction trading market in January 2024, introducing methodologies for six types of projects, including afforestation carbon sinks. As of the end of October 2025, a total of 31 projects had been registered, generating 15.04 million tonnes of verified emissions reductions. The cumulative trading volume reached about 3.23 million tonnes, with a total transaction value of roughly 270 million yuan.

China has also worked to invigorate its green power and green certificate markets to support healthy clean energy development. Its green certificate scheme now covers all renewable power generation.

As of the end of August 2025, a total of 6.924 billion green certificates had been issued, of which 4.656 billion were tradable. China also officially launched its green electricity trading market in September 2021, according to the white paper. By the end of August 2025, green power transactions carried out through the country’s power trading platforms had reached 205 billion kilowatt-hours, up 43.3 percent year-on-year.