The State Forestry and Grassland Administration recently released the list of pilot cities and counties that will undertake the task of carbon sequestration. 18 cities and counties were included on the list, and Baotou city was one of them.

In 2021, Baotou took the lead in planning and starting the process of reaching a carbon peak by planting a carbon neutral forest and grass carbon sink pilot area.

The city launched a series of innovative ideas and practices, including developing a "forest, grassland and wetland carbon sink". Their plans include reaching city level carbon neutralization, as well as cross regional cooperation through the forest and grassland carbon sink. Another plan is to implement the forest and grassland carbon credit incentive.

The city has built a comprehensive management platform to support the forest and grass carbon sinks. It is also the first to achieve a carbon neutral cooperation model which operates across provinces and regions in China. Baotou held the first zero-carbon conference in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, as well as the first commercial forest carbon sink value insurance in the autonomous region.

The construction of the pilot area in Baotou was fully recognized by the State Forestry and Grassland Administration. Baotou was acknowledged nationally in 2021 for its comprehensive local reform, which is at a national standard. In September this year, it was also awarded the silver medal for being a major strategic innovation case.

Baotou was selected as the pilot city, which is of great significance for further advancing the construction of its pilot area and improving the development level of forest and grass carbon sinks in the city.