China Hongqiao Group to release carbon reduction plans this year; aims at becoming carbon neutral by 2060

China Hongqiao Group will publish this year its lower carbon emission target along with the action plan on how to achieve it, according to a report last week after the world’s largest private-sector aluminium producer’s chairman Zhang Bo revealed at the China Development Forum that the firm would announce its goals and plans for carbon reduction later in the year.

“We hope to explore specific paths and methods for the low-carbon transformation of China’s aluminium industry,” he said as quoted by Reuters.

Hongqiao has already started working with some of the top domestic and international institutions to formulate its carbon-reduction plan as it is under tremendous pressure to begin reducing emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060.

According to an independent climate and energy think tank Ember, China’s energy-intensive aluminium smelting industry emitted more CO2 than countries such as Indonesia in 2020.

Hongqiao affiliate Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group and state-owned rival Aluminum Corp of China already released a plan together in January 2021 on how the Chinese aluminium sector should reduce emissions.

Hongqiao has started moving a portion of its smelting capacity to southwest China to use cleaner hydropower and is also pursuing an aluminium recycling project in home province of Shandong, all in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions.