(Source: "Economic Daily" 2024-11-12 Theory Edition)
November 12, foreign researcher at the National Institute for Opening up, w88 casinoPella Capacciotaki（Pella Karpathiotaki）at"Economic Daily" Theoretical EditionPublished a signed article "China's Practice Promotes Global Green Transformation".
Climate change is a serious challenge facing all mankind. For the sake of our common future, we urgently need to take action to accelerate the green transformation. An inclusive green low-carbon economy is an alternative to the currently dominant economic model. In the past 10 years, many national governments have regarded the development of green economy as a strategic priority, and they have paid increasing attention to "just transition". According to the World Economic Forum's "New Natural Economy Report", US$44 trillion of the global economy is highly or moderately dependent on natural ecosystems. However, relevant policies still need to be designed according to the national conditions of each country on how to transform into a low-carbon economy and an environmentally friendly society.
China’s Green Transformation Practice
For more than 10 years, China has accelerated the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, proposed new development concepts, new development patterns, high-quality development, and promoted ecological civilization construction, etc., and integrated these into the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the 2035 long-term goal outline, and the carbon peak and carbon neutral "1+N" policy system, etc., depicting China's blueprint for promoting green transformation and realizing the vision of a Beautiful China.
In 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the general debate of the 75th United Nations General Assembly, emphasizing the need to accelerate the formation of green development methods and lifestyles and promote the "green recovery" of the world economy after the epidemic. He proposed that "China will increase its nationally determined contributions and adopt more powerful policies and measures. Carbon dioxide emissions will strive to peak before 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060." Among all the goals and roadmaps involved in this speech, China’s commitment to peak carbon neutrality is the most important. This is called the “3060” goal or the “double carbon” goal.
In China, "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality" have become buzzwords and are widely discussed, which helps to raise the whole society's awareness of the importance of green and low-carbon transformation. In 2021, China established a leading group for carbon peak and carbon neutrality work to guide and coordinate the work of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Relevant ministries and commissions under the State Council have formulated action plans based on their respective policy areas, and the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government have also established specialized leading groups to plan and coordinate work within each region. At the same time, almost all of China's top universities have established relevant research institutes, dedicated to strengthening scientific, technological and policy research on the theme of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. The private sector also sees the “double carbon” goal as a turning point for China’s investment and market opportunities in the coming decades. Extremely high social awareness supports government strategies and actions. At the same time, it also shows that China may face huge challenges in achieving this goal, which requires revolutionary technological breakthroughs and applications as well as extensive policy actions to guide a comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.
Leader in the global climate governance process
China is becoming an important participant, contributor and leader in the global climate governance process. China's positive response to climate change is not only based on China's inherent requirements to achieve sustainable development, but also stems from its responsibility to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
In 2024, International Monetary Fund (IMF) President Kristalina Georgieva said: China has huge potential in developing a green economy; China is already a global leader in deploying renewable energy and has also made great progress in green travel; China continues to play a leadership role and is indispensable for resolving the global climate crisis.
China submitted "Strengthening Actions to Address Climate Change - China's Nationally Determined Contributions" to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2015, and in 2021 submitted "China's Implementation of the Results and New Goals and New Measures of Nationally Determined Contributions". In addition, China has released a series of policy documents to align the national economic agenda with climate goals. In 2022, 17 departments including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China jointly issued the "National Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change 2035", which aims to implement the national strategy of actively responding to climate change, strengthen action measures to adapt to climate change, and effectively prevent the adverse effects and risks of climate change. In 2024, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the "China's Progress Report on Adapting to Climate Change (2023)", which systematically summarized China's achievements in adapting to climate change since 2022, and proposed that China has achieved remarkable results in adapting to climate change in key areas, especially affirming the key role of finance, technology, human resources and international cooperation in adapting to climate change. Currently, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment is further improving the policy system for climate change adaptation and actively expanding international cooperation.
In the past few years, China has made significant progress in promoting green transformation. According to the "China's Energy Transformation" white paper released by the Information Office of the State Council of China in August 2024, China's clean energy power generation installed capacity will reach 1.7 billion kilowatts in 2023, accounting for 58.2% of the total installed power generation capacity; the proportion of clean energy consumption will reach 26.4%, an increase of 10.9 percentage points from 2013, and the proportion of coal consumption will decrease by 12.1 percentage points. From 2014 to 2023, the proportion of global non-fossil energy consumption increased from 13.6% to 18.5%, of which China's contribution to the increase in non-fossil energy consumption was 45.2%. China has also cooperated with more than 100 countries and regions on green energy projects. According to the "Renewable Energy 2023" report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA), China's new installed solar photovoltaic capacity in 2023 is equivalent to the total new installed solar photovoltaic capacity in the world in 2022. The report points out that China is the global leader in renewable energy and the main driving force behind the rapid and large-scale growth of global renewable energy.
The "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development" issued in 2024 is the first systematic deployment of accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development from the central level. As the world's second largest economy, China took the initiative to propose this comprehensive green transformation plan after setting its "double carbon" goal. To sum up, it can be seen that China is steadily fulfilling its commitments to itself and the world in accordance with the timetable it has set.
Promote the construction of global ecological civilization
In 2022, China issued the "Opinions on Promoting Green Development of the Belt and Road Initiative" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"). The "Opinions" attach great importance to the international green standards of the "Belt and Road Initiative" and emphasize China's role in promoting the full implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement by all parties, and make arrangements for strengthening green energy cooperation, green transportation cooperation and other key areas.
The “Belt and Road” green development plan directly promotes the medium-term strategy and work plan of the United Nations Environment Program and involves multiple sub-programs, including resource efficiency, climate change, environmental governance, and environmental review.
In 2023, President Xi Jinping announced eight actions in China’s support for high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road” in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the third “Belt and Road” International Cooperation Summit Forum. Among them, "promoting green development" is particularly important, which not only reflects China's concept of ecological civilization, but also clarifies the realistic path to promote the construction of global ecological civilization. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres believes: "The Green Silk Road is an important tool that can help us get out of the dead ends of the past and embark on a new path that benefits mankind and the earth." Eric Solheim, chairman of the International Alliance for Green Development of the Belt and Road Initiative, said that since the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, a large number of "green corridors" have been established around the world. "Currently, the energy investment of countries participating in the 'Belt and Road' initiative has turned to green and clean energy such as solar energy, wind energy, and water energy, which provides huge opportunities for global green investment."
Another key topic that has attracted much attention in the green "One Belt and One Road" is the "Opinions"'s deployment of coordinating and promoting the green development of overseas projects, proposing to "completely stop new overseas coal-fired power projects and prudently promote overseas coal-fired power projects under construction." In 2021, President Xi Jinping also mentioned in his speech at the general debate of the 76th United Nations General Assembly that "China will vigorously support the green and low-carbon energy development of developing countries and will no longer build new overseas coal power projects."
It is worth noting that the "Opinions" better respond to the demands of emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). Technology is an important determinant of the success of green infrastructure projects, and as the cost of green technologies declines, the economic and environmental benefits brought by Belt and Road projects continue to increase. Many low-carbon technologies, from solar and wind to battery storage and electric vehicles, continue to become more technically and commercially viable. In order to further encourage the innovative development of technology, the "Opinions" propose to support the construction of platforms such as environmental technology exchange and transfer bases, green technology demonstration and promotion bases, and green technology parks. EMDEs are facing the urgent need to improve their sustainable development capabilities, and it is crucial to promote green investment, technology and standards on a large scale.
Achieving green and low-carbon transformation and building related infrastructure require early investment, and investors may face certain risks. The "Opinions" propose to strengthen green financial cooperation, encourage financial institutions to implement the "Belt and Road" Green Investment Principles, and also propose to improve support and guarantees for the prevention and control of environmental risks in overseas projects.
Of course, China's green transformation still faces many difficulties and challenges. The main reason is that the domestic energy structure still focuses on coal, and the proportion of fossil energy and traditional industries is still high. But overall, in the past 10 years or so, China has made outstanding contributions to the global green transformation with its continuous technological progress, complete industrial and supply chains, and favorable market environment. Against the backdrop of setbacks in the global green transition, increasing politicization of climate issues, and rising green w88 barriers, China provides a vital piece of the puzzle for a fragmented blue planet. China's practice also shows that only through global cooperation can the world effectively solve climate problems that respect no national boundaries.
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