Evaluation of China’s Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Policy Based on PMC

• In Event: Environmental Policymaking: Challenges and Solutions

Abstract

Global climate change has become one of the most serious challenges facing human society. The frequent occurrence of extreme weather events in recent years shows that the severe impact of global climate change has begun to emerge and has a tendency to intensify, seriously endangering the production and livelihood of many countries. On March 13, 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted in his opening video message to the new session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that "our world is at a crossroads, our planet is at a crossroads. We are approaching the point of irreversibility, on the verge of exceeding the internationally agreed limit of 15°C of global warming. We are at the tipping point of the tipping point", and the world urgently needs to follow the cold facts to end global warming.
At present, 54 countries in the world have reached the peak of carbon emissions, accounting for 40% of the world's total carbon emissions. In 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020, the number of countries with peak carbon emissions was 18, 31, 50 and 54, respectively, and most of them belonged to developed countries. These countries accounted for 21%, 18%, 36% and 40% of global carbon emissions at the time, respectively. In 2020, among the top 15 carbon emitters, the United States, Russia, Japan, Brazil, Indonesia, Germany, Canada, South Korea, the United Kingdom and France have already peaked their carbon emissions. Countries such as China, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, and Singapore have pledged to peak by 2030. By then, 58 countries around the world will have peaked carbon emissions, accounting for 60% of global carbon emissions.While promoting the strategy of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality", China provides an opportunity for the world to demonstrate and lead. Through the effective implementation of its own emission reduction measures, China can not only set an example for global climate governance, but also provide experience and cooperation opportunities for other countries and regions[2]. Assessing the impact of China's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality policies on global climate governance and carbon emission reduction goals is of great significance for promoting global climate action, promoting international cooperation, and jointly addressing global climate change challenges. As a key force in global carbon emission reduction, China's policies and measures will have a far-reaching impact on the world and become an important part of global climate governance[3]. The Chinese government has set carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, aiming to peak carbon emissions and reduce carbon emissions to net zero in the next few decades. The major environmental strategy that the Party and the country have long adhered to is the construction of ecological civilization, which is also an important part of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated that by 2035, China's ecological environment will be fundamentally improved, and the goal of a beautiful China will be basically achieved.All regions, departments and industries have fully implemented the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, deepened the construction of ecological civilization, continued to implement the national strategy of actively responding to climate change, adopted strong policies and measures, and made new progress in green and low-carbon development. Green has increasingly become the distinctive background color of China's high-quality economic and social development. China's strategy on the "dual carbon" goal is consistent and has always maintained strategic focus. After the "dual carbon" goal was proposed in October 2020, China made a comprehensive deployment through the promulgation of the "1+N" policy of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, but the policy focuses on promoting the dual carbon work from the perspective of the industry and lacks the overall layout from a regional perspective. The regional dual-carbon "troika" strategic system with "carbon governance, carbon emission reduction, and carbon value-added" as the main content serves the regional dual-carbon planning and implementation at different spatial scales such as provinces, cities, districts and counties, and parks.This study analyzes the characteristics and functional positioning of the dual carbon policy by combing the research literature on the promulgation, implementation, functional positioning and evaluation methods of the dual carbon policy, and constructs a PMC evaluation index system for the dual carbon policy based on this. In view of the existing problems of the dual carbon policy, some suggestions are put forward for China to formulate and evaluate the dual carbon policy more scientifically and effectively in the future, so as to build a fair and reasonable policy system with scientific evaluation.

Author

• Rui Xie