Low carbon consumption, here we are

  In the process of actively implementing the "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" in the whole society, "buy, buy and buy" has been given a new requirement: low-carbon living consumption.

Various localities try to guide enterprises and residents to low-carbon consumption from the front end (supply end) and end (consumer end) of commodities, and consciously and willingly choose climate and climate in all aspects of life such as clothing, food, housing, transportation, and entertainment. Environmentally friendly products and services avoid waste and encourage recycling.

  The rise of low-carbon consumption

  Ms. Wang, who lives in Guangzhou, has a strong awareness of environmental protection. She tries not to drive a private car when she goes to work, but chooses subway, bus or bicycle to travel.

At home, water, electricity, and gas equipment were replaced with energy-saving equipment.

She didn't make a donation, and her low-carbon behaviors were rewarded by converting them into carbon coins through the Guangdong Carbon Inclusive Platform.

These carbon coins can be exchanged for commodities or donated for social welfare.

  Guangdong's carbon inclusive platform was piloted in Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Shaoguan, Heyuan and Huizhou in 2015.

Users log in to the Carbon Inclusive Account through the platform website, mobile APP, WeChat official account and other channels, and use their low-carbon behaviors to exchange carbon coins and corresponding discounts.

The platform is not only for individuals, but also quantifies and assigns value to the carbon reduction behavior of small and micro enterprises and households.

On the Arbor Day in March 2021, Carbon Inclusive will also combine games with green public welfare, and use a game platform with a large number of users for low-carbon communication.

  Like Guangdong, many cities are promoting residents to participate in low-carbon consumption.

In 2014, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, one of the low-carbon city pilot projects, launched the “carbon credit system” to guide citizens to practice low-carbon life.

Wuhan's carbon package system also came into being.

Tanbaobao went online in June 2016. Citizens can redeem carbon coins by using urban public bicycles, urban buses, walking and other green travel methods. Carbon coins can be used to redeem movie tickets, group purchase coupons and other coupons.

Although the carbon package was suspended in 2018, as one of the earliest urban carbon credit projects in China, it provides new ideas for promoting low-carbon urban life.

  Other places try to build a carbon credit system, such as the carbon account platform in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, and the Zaodao Planet platform in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

According to the recently released "Case Study on the Promotion of Individual Low-Carbon Consumption by Governments and Enterprises", the Shenzhen Carbon Account Platform helps citizens obtain carbon credits through voluntary emission reductions and exchange them for public welfare rewards after submitting applications for continuous suspension of driving at the traffic police station; Chengdu's Zaodian Planet cooperated with the Sichuan United Environment Exchange to launch a personal carbon account. Based on the Sichuan United Environment Exchange's carbon emission reduction accounting method, it calculates personal carbon emissions and calculates users' low-carbon travel behaviors such as subway, bus, and walking. The reduced carbon emissions generate emission reduction records for users.

The calculated emission reduction will be converted into "planet currency" and deposited in the user's account.

The above-mentioned projects are all initiated by the government, and the overall action framework and action goals of the project serve the policy goals of urban low-carbon development.

  Individual carbon reduction cannot be underestimated

  Carbon reduction is a major project. Many major industries, such as electricity, steel, cement, etc., have taken on important responsibilities. Then, how much role can personal consumption play in it?

The "Case Study of Governments and Enterprises Promoting Individual Low-Carbon Consumption" report argues that in order to achieve the goal of peaking carbon in 2030 and carbon neutral by 2060, in addition to accelerating energy structure adjustments, necessary interventions should also be taken to reduce household consumption. The growth rate of carbon emissions.

  As domestic consumption continues to grow, carbon emissions from household consumption will also continue to rise.

Studies have shown that in 2012, the carbon emissions generated by my country's household consumption was about 2.27 times that of 2002.

The carbon emissions caused by residents’ consumption include not only the carbon emissions generated by the consumption of energy in the process of daily cooking, heating, and travel, but also the products and services consumed by individuals in various fields such as clothing, food, housing, transportation, and use in their production and transportation. Carbon emissions generated in the process.

  Experts pointed out that in the long run, personal consumption is also a particularly important field and link, and changes in personal consumption patterns will directly or indirectly affect the front-end supply.

  "If we can't effectively and timely guide everyone's consumption behavior to low-carbon, the corresponding increase in carbon emissions in the future will put pressure on the environment and the achievement of national climate change goals." Director of China Urban Projects, Natural Resources Conservation Association Pan Zhiming said.

  Collectively, personal carbon reduction can also have a big effect.

For example, the Carbon Inclusive Platform in Guangdong Province has 20 existing carbon reduction projects, with more than 20,000 members and a cumulative carbon reduction of 16,976.75 tons.

In 2020, Carbon Block (a consulting company) released the "Analysis of the Low-Carbon Consumption Potential of Large-scale Urban Residents" report on the five consumption areas of clothing, food, housing, transportation, and use of large-scale urban residents with a population of more than 10 million, as well as 13 The emission reduction potential under each scenario is analyzed.

The report pointed out that if residents in the same scenario gradually shift from their existing consumption patterns to corresponding low-carbon consumption patterns, first- and second-tier cities with a population of more than 10 million in 2030 can reduce emissions per capita at least 1.1 tons per person per year, which has huge potential.

  Achieving "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" is a broad and profound economic and social systemic change.

Lin Weiwei, director of the Energy Foundation's Low-Carbon City Project, said that the green and low-carbon lifestyle we are advocating today is part of a social systemic transformation under the dual-carbon goal, and it is also important for achieving China’s "carbon peak and carbon neutrality". One of the initiatives.

  Create a good environment

  Encouraging everyone to practice low-carbon consumption requires the whole society to jointly create a good environment.

Among them, the government and enterprises, as the two parties, can play a big role.

  Since the State Council designated the third day of the annual Energy Conservation Publicity Week as the National Low-Carbon Day in 2013, Shanghai has carried out publicity campaigns with the theme of "City Life, Enjoy Low-Carbon" every year on Low-Carbon Day. Activities centered on citizens’ clothing and food Many aspects of life, including housing, transportation, and use, are carried out. This action covers businesses, campuses, office buildings, enterprises and institutions.

  In September 2020, Beijing Municipal Commission of Transportation and Beijing Municipal Bureau of Eco-Environment, together with AutoNavi Map and Baidu Map, launched green travel carbon inclusive incentive measures.

By using AutoNavi Maps and Baidu Maps for bus, subway, bicycle, and walking path planning and navigation, users can obtain the corresponding carbon energy after the trip and convert it into rewards.

As of February 2021, there are approximately 3 million daily active users of carbon inclusive green travel, and the cumulative carbon emission reduction has reached 23,800 tons.

  As a provider of products and services, companies are not far behind in promoting low-carbon consumption in the fields of clothing, food, housing, transportation, and use.

In terms of clothing, manufacturers such as Decathlon and Donglong Group cooperated with the China National Textile and Apparel Council to launch the "Zero Abandonment Program for Used Clothing". The life cycle of raw materials.

  In terms of food, traditional Chinese restaurants and Western-style fast food chains have introduced food portions suitable for "one person", and also launched the "CD Action"; in the residential area, companies are actively developing energy-saving home appliances and energy-saving buildings to reduce personal carbon emissions in the residential sector. In terms of transportation, shared travel companies continue to introduce new innovations, carpooling and other online car-hailing products have increased the utilization rate of vehicles; in terms of use, more and more e-commerce platforms, food delivery platforms, and logistics industries have joined forces. Upstream and downstream companies adopt methods such as packaging reduction, providing recyclable express packaging, and reducing the use of disposable plastic products to reduce personal carbon emissions in this field.

  In order to create a new situation for large-scale personal low-carbon consumption, the report "Case Study on Government and Enterprises Promoting Personal Low-Carbon Consumption" recommends that in the future, a multi-agent communication and joint action network that advocates low-carbon consumption and low-carbon life should be established.

With cities and enterprises as the main body, continuously introduce different institutions and stakeholders, build a dialogue platform and dialogue mechanism with multi-subject participation; build a unified and comprehensive carbon reduction accounting system.

Mobilize the power of non-profit organizations and research institutions to provide solid technical support for carbon emission reduction accounting; strive for more companies to cross-enterprise and cross-field cooperation, reduce energy consumption of goods and services throughout the chain, in order to provide more low-carbon options, The ultimate goal is to create a good low-carbon consumption environment.