Policy recommendations for a carbon-neutral China

China’s announcement in 2020 to peak its CO2 emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060 was a surprise for the global community.

This discussion paper is based on a series of workshops and interviews conducted in 2021 with Chinese and European experts on the environment, climate change, energy and governance. It discusses the driving forces behind China’s quest for carbon neutrality and the primary sources of CO2 emissions.

It examines the institutions, policies and instruments that are shaping the energy system and analyses reduction efforts across four major areas of CO2 emissions.

It also highlights obstacles to implementing the carbon-peaking and carbon-neutral commitments and makes policy recommendations to help keep China on the path to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

The result of these discussions is the publication “Governance first, markets second – Policy recommendations for a carbon-neutral China” that can be downloaded here.