The oil and gas sectors could add more than 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to China’s total emissions, meaning overall greenhouse gas from energy use would still rise 2% this year and 1.2% in 2020, said researchers with the “China Coal Cap Research Project”, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, emissions from coal are expected to fall 75.6 million tonnes in 2020 after a concerted effort to switch to cleaner energy sources, they said.

China lowered the share of coal in its energy mix to 59% last year, from 68% in 2012, and the researchers said it was expected to fall to 55.3% by 2020.

Although China is the world’s biggest carbon emitter, it is still designated as a developing country and has not yet been obliged to cut its absolute CO2 levels.

However, it had promised to cut carbon intensity - the amount produced per unit of economic growth - by 40%-45% over the 2005-2020 period, and met the target two years in advance.