China’s carbon neutrality: an extensive and profound systemic reform

doi:10.1007/s11783-023-1614-3

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2023, Vol. 17

Issue (2) : 14 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-023-1614-3

PERSPECTIVES

China’s carbon neutrality: an extensive and profound systemic reform

Xi Lu^1,^2,^3,⁴, Dan Tong⁵, Kebin He^1,^2,^3,⁴(

)

¹. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control and School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
². Institute for Carbon Neutrality, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
³. Beijing Laboratory of Environmental Frontier Technologies, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
⁴. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex, Beijing 100084, China
⁵. Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Institute for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
⁶.

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Abstract

● China has pledged ambitious carbon peak and neutrality goals for mitigating global climate change.

● Major challenges to achieve carbon neutrality in China are summarized.

● The new opportunities along the pathway of China’s carbon neutrality are discussed from four aspects.

● Five policy suggestions for China are provided.

China is the largest developing economy and carbon dioxide emitter in the world, the carbon neutrality goal of which will have a profound influence on the mitigation pathway of global climate change. The transition towards a carbon-neutral society is integrated into the construction of ecological civilization in China, and brings profound implications for China’s socioeconomic development. Here, we not only summarize the major challenges in achieving carbon neutrality in China, but also identify the four potential new opportunities: namely, the acceleration of technology innovations, narrowing regional disparity by reshaping the value of resources, transforming the industrial structure, and co-benefits of pollution and carbon mitigation. Finally, we provide five policy suggestions and highlight the importance of balancing economic growth and carbon mitigation, and the joint efforts among the government, the enterprises, and the residents.

Keywords Carbon neutrality Energy structure Technology-dependent society Coordinated mitigation for air pollutants and CO₂

Corresponding Author(s): Kebin He

About author: Tongcan Cui and Yizhe Hou contributed equally to this work.

Issue Date: 26 August 2022

Cite this article:

Xi Lu,Dan Tong,Kebin He. China’s carbon neutrality: an extensive and profound systemic reform[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2023, 17(2): 14.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-023-1614-3
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2023/V17/I2/14

Fig.1 Carbon neutrality is a balance of anthropogenic carbon emissions and absorption.

Fig.2 China’s carbon neutrality scenario (adjusted from Cheng et al., 2021).

Fig.3 Opportunities and policy suggestions of carbon neutrality.

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