China's Revised Carbon Metrics Cut Reported Emissions Growth by Half

China applied updated carbon accounting metrics that lowered the recorded growth in national emissions from 2020 to 2025 by half, according to a report cited by Reuters. The revised figures adjust prior estimates without altering the underlying activity data used to calculate emissions.

The new metrics modify how certain industrial processes and energy sources are counted in official statistics. The report states that the adjustment produced a smaller cumulative increase over the five-year period than earlier calculations had shown. No specific government agency or individual is named in the report as the source of the revised methodology.