Action Plan for Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality of China’s Home Appliance industry before 2030 was released by China Household Electrical Appliances Association (CHEAA) at its China Household Electrical Appliance Technical Conference 2023 on May 18, 2023. The action plan paints a picture of the low-carbon development of China’s home appliance industry. Beyond that, CHEAA’s establishment of Guidelines for life cycle carbon footprint accounting of household electrical appliances also drew broad attention at the meeting. It is learned that a draft standard version of the guidelines has been completed and will be further refined, and more product category rules will be established down the road.
The action plan proposes a clear goal of striving to achieve carbon peaking as of 2030 as a foundation for carbon neutrality. It also introduces clear steps towards it. Wang Lei, Secretary General of CHEAA, stressed at the meeting that, the carbon reduction of China’s home appliance industry should be accessed through life cycle carbon footprint of a product, and we should accumulate related data by stage and continuously refine the methodology and analytic tools of the life cycle carbon footprint accounting to promote the industry to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in a sustainable, steady way. To reach the goal of carbon peaking before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, the action plan proposes short-term (2022-2025) and long-term (2026-2030) suggestions respectively for the industry.
While the action plan paints a clear development path for the industry, the guidelines provide a standardization base for enterprises’ accounting of carbon footprint of products. Wan Chunhui, Vice Secretary General & Director of Department of Standards and Regulations of CHEAA, introduced the establishment of the guidelines, the draft standard and the future plan at the meeting.
Wan Chunhui says, “the accounting rules, methods and data collection principles of the draft standard uses the common principles and methods that are internationally adopted while develops a step-by-step value chain data collection method based on the actual situation of China’s home appliance industry. The carbon footprint accounting takes the greenhouse gas emission throughout the life cycle of a product into account from raw material acquisition, manufacturing, distribution, use and maintenance to the end of the life, which is also defined as the system boundary.” CHEAA will further refine the guidelines and develop product category rules down the road and promote the international mutual recognition of carbon footprint standards of home appliances through international exchanges.
“In a nutshell, it is a two-pronged system with the development of guidelines, product category rules and the accounting methodology as one prong, and the application of product category rules, step-by-step value chain data collection and the establishment of a database for home appliance carbon footprint as the other. ” Wan Chunhui says.