An Energy Sector Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality in China
In September 2020, President Xi Jinping announced that the People’s Republic of China
will “aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before
2060”. Amid the growing wave of governments around the world setting targets for reaching
net zero emissions, no pledge is as significant as China’s. The country is the world’s
largest energy consumer and carbon emitter, accounting for one-third of global CO2
emissions. The pace of China’s emissions reductions will be an important factor in
global efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 °C.
This report, An Energy Sector Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality in China, responds to the
Chinese government’s invitation to the International Energy Agency to cooperate on
long-term strategies by setting out pathways for reaching carbon neutrality in China’s
energy sector. It shows that achieving carbon neutrality fits with China’s broader
development goals, such as increasing prosperity and shifting towards innovation-driven
growth. The first pathway in this Roadmap – the Announced Pledges Scenario – reflects
the enhanced targets China announced in 2020. The report also explores the implications
of a faster transition – the Accelerated Transition Scenario – and the socio-economic
benefits it would bring beyond those associated with reducing the impact of climate
change.
This Roadmap examines the technology challenges and opportunities that this new phase
of the clean energy transition will bring for China’s development, with a focus on
long-term needs. The technology innovations required in the Chinese context are a
key in-depth focus area. The report concludes with a series of policy considerations
to inform China’s energy debate.