Two goals demonstrate the determination of low-carbon transformation, China enters the fast lane of carbon reduction
In the next 40 years, China is bound to set off a carbon reduction revolution.
A few days ago, President Xi Jinping pointed out in the general debate of the 75th UN General Assembly that China will increase its nationally determined contribution, adopt more effective policies and measures, and strive to reach the peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and strive to achieve it by 2060. Carbon neutral.
According to many experts from the National Committee of Experts on Climate Change, the goals of these two time nodes are rich in connotation. From a short-term perspective, it means that China’s economic recovery after the epidemic must take a green path; in the long-term, “before 2060 Achieving carbon neutrality"-the carbon reduction goal that China announced to the world for the first time will serve as a baton to lead China's transformation into a low-carbon country.
Du Xiangwan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and honorary director of the National Committee of Experts on Climate Change, said that China’s previous goal was that carbon dioxide emissions would peak “around” around 2030, but President Xi Jinping’s recent formulation has changed slightly, removing the word “post”. , A word difference, behind China’s determination to speed up and reduce carbon emissions.
He Jiankun, deputy director of the National Committee of Experts on Climate Change and former executive vice president of Tsinghua University, said that most developed countries usually set aside 50-70 years from peak carbon emissions to achieving carbon neutrality, but China only left it for itself. In 30 years, this means that my country needs to make arduous efforts and achieve leapfrog development, which demonstrates the responsibility of a developing country for global sustainable development.
Low-carbon transition brings multiple synergies
In Du Xiangwan's view, the transformation from a coal-consuming country to a low-carbon country is not only an international responsibility, but also China's own sustainable development needs, and it is also to meet the people's needs for a better environment.
He said that economic development, energy transition, environmental quality improvement, and response to climate change are synergistic.
my country has continued to defend the blue sky since 2013. Before the end of 2020, the blue sky goal of the "13th Five-Year Plan" is expected to be completed. However, compared with developed countries, there is still a gap in environmental quality.
Du Xiangwan said that environmental pollution emissions and greenhouse gas emissions are currently the same in China, and the transition to low-carbon energy provides room for further improvement of air quality.
Wang Jinnan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and dean of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, also believes that the two low-carbon targets provide new momentum for the continuous improvement of the quality of my country's ecological environment.
He explained that what remains of air quality governance at the moment are hard bones. End-of-pipe governance alone cannot solve the current environmental problems. It must rely on in-depth adjustments in industrial structure, energy structure, land use structure, and transportation structure. The goal can only be achieved by deep structural adjustment.
He Jiankun said that the whole world is expecting China to lead the economic recovery and green development after the global epidemic, and also expects China's 14th Five-Year Plan to become the vane of green recovery.
China’s two low-carbon goals clarify that the current and future economy must take a coordinated path of green recovery, low-carbon transformation and high-quality development.
In this regard, Wang Jinnan also believes that economic development cannot return to the old path, and low-carbon goals are the new driving force for my country to achieve high-quality development.
In He Jiankun's view, when the world is to achieve carbon neutrality in the future, low-carbon development capabilities, low-carbon advanced technologies and low-carbon economic systems are the core competitiveness and the symbol of a modern country.
Planning and deploying carbon neutral goals in advance is conducive to building my country's low-carbon long-term core competitiveness and leading the trend of world energy economic reform.
"Dafeng" target may become an important baton for the 14th Five-Year Plan
The current "14th Five-Year Plan" is under intensive preparation.
He Jiankun believes that the goal of striving for a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 can force changes in the economic and energy development pattern during the 14th Five-Year Plan and the 15th Five-Year Plan.
He suggested that the "14th Five-Year Plan" must be deployed with the goal of "reaching the peak".
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the eastern coastal areas with relatively leading economic transitions may be the first to achieve the peak of carbon dioxide emissions; high energy-consuming industries such as steel, cement, petrochemical and chemical industries must also take the lead in achieving the peak during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. peak.
How to achieve the peak of carbon dioxide emissions before 2030, Du Xiangwan put forward the idea is to control coal consumption during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period to achieve zero or even negative growth, and on this basis, improve the efficiency of coal use and further reduce Coal usage.
In Du Xiangwan's view, the key to reducing coal consumption during the 14th Five-Year Plan period is to reduce the amount of non-power generation coal and improve the energy efficiency of coal used for power generation.
He explained that industrial coal accounts for about 30% of my country's coal consumption, and technological progress can reduce this part of coal consumption. At the same time, there is room for mining the efficiency of coal for power generation.
Du Xiangwan said that while controlling coal, clean coal should be used to gradually reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions.
He explained that the current energy consumption per unit of GDP in my country is 1.5 times the world average energy consumption, which means that there is still a lot of room for my country to provide energy efficiency.
If my country's energy consumption per unit of GDP is on par with the world average, it can reduce more than one billion tons of standard coal every year.
Du Xiangwan said that while reducing coal, alternatives to renewable energy should be deployed and the energy structure should be gradually optimized.
He Jiankun also believes that coal consumption should achieve zero growth during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.
Coal consumption must be the first to reach its peak, supplemented by natural gas and other energy sources.
We are about to usher in a low-carbon era
In He Jiankun's view, announcing to the world that it will achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 reflects China's initiative to assume international responsibility as a major country.
He explained that the report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has pointed out that the world must achieve the goal of controlling temperature rise not to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius, achieving near-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, and deep reduction of other greenhouse gases. China announced The goal of carbon neutrality is to contribute to the global temperature rise not exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Liu Yanhua, director of the National Committee of Experts on Climate Change and former deputy minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that 70% of my country’s current carbon dioxide emissions come from industrial production or generative emissions, and 30% come from consumer emissions. However, with the improvement of industrial production efficiency and living standards in the future With the increase in consumption, the proportion of consumer emissions may increase. Low-carbon consumption from the consumer side requires people to change their consumption habits and live a low-carbon life.
Wang Yiming, former deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that the concept of green development led by low-carbon is far more than energy transition. Green consumption, green buildings, green transportation, and green finance are all within the meaning of the topic.
He said that my country is relatively well prepared for the transformation of the energy structure, but the response in other areas such as green consumption and green finance is relatively scattered and lacks systematic preparation.
If the energy transition is laid out from the perspective of green finance, etc., it will bring new driving forces to the low-carbon energy.
At present, in addition to climate and environmental protection, the whole society should be mobilized to help low carbon.
Wang Yiming also provided thoughts on low-carbon goals from another angle.
He said that China's economic recovery requires two-wheel drive, one is digital recovery, the other is green recovery.
The two are interrelated and support each other. If the digitalization of the economy increases, carbon emissions will drop significantly. However, there is no deep correlation between the two wings of recovery in my country, and there is no specific action plan and action plan. This needs to be done as soon as possible. Start to welcome an upcoming low-carbon society.
Xu Qiang, director of the National Energy Conservation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, believes that the low-carbon transition of a country requires the government to have an attitude, the whole society must be conscious, and every citizen must fulfill his obligations to achieve it.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Liu Shixin Source: China Youth Daily