The Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China and UNECE have collaborated on the development of bridging documents between China's resources and reserves classification system for minerals and petroleum and the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC).
Ensuring the efficient management of mineral and petroleum resources and supporting the sustainable development of the economy and society are common goals of UNFC and China's national standards. UNFC is a global, principles-based system for classifying, managing and reporting mineral, petroleum, renewable energy and anthropogenic resources. The National Standards of the People's Republic of China “Classification for Resources/Reserves of Solid Fuels and Mineral Commodities (GB/T 17766-1999)” and the “Classification for Petroleum Resources/Reserves (GB/T 19492-2004)” apply to managing and reporting resources and reserves of minerals and petroleum.
The bridging documents were endorsed by the UNECE Committee on Sustainable Energy on 26 September. The documents explain the relationship between China’s national standards and UNFC and incorporate instructions and guidelines on how to classify and manage resources through application of UNFC. The development of these bridging documents will help promote the sustainable development of energy resources and encourage broader international collaboration.
Experts from China have participated actively in the development of UNFC since 1997. China's national standard for minerals was developed in close alignment with UNFC-1997. The research and development of the bridging documents between China's national systems and UNFC was carried out to deepen the collaboration, strengthen exchanges and mutual learning, and improve international standards. Cooperation between the Mineral Resources and Reserves Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Land and Resources and UNECE’s Expert Group on Resource Classification on these bridging documents first started in 2015.
“The bridging documents will help promote in-depth exchanges and cooperation between China and UNECE in the field of sustainable energy, advance implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and extend international cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative”, said Jianhua Ju, Director-General, Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China. “We look forward to strengthened cooperation with UNECE to promote effective mineral resource standards among countries and to boost sustainable development in the world's energy resources sector”.