Collaboration holds key to better carbon management

Chinese enterprises are undergoing a fundamental shift in their climate strategies, transforming once-isolated projects and internal targets into integrated, collaborative framework solutions, according to a recent report.

The report, jointly compiled by C Team, which is an NGO based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, the Center for Environmental Education and Communications, and the Vanke Foundation, was built on the analysis of 110 climate action cases collected over the past six years. These cases are collected annually, based on voluntary participation and submissions.

The report revealed that carbon management and institutional innovation represent the most prominent areas of corporate climate action, accounting for 34 percent of all cases. This signals a growing corporate focus on using policy, finance and institutional tools to drive low-carbon transformation, it said, adding that companies tend to use systemic measures such as value chain decarbonization, carbon accounting and green finance to achieve broader emission cuts.

Climate action cases involving energy utilization and management account for the second-largest share with 26 percent, according to the report. This demonstrates that companies are channeling their consistent climate efforts into boosting efficiency, switching to clean energy and implementing smart, integrated energy systems, it noted.

Tracking cases year by year shows companies pivoting from isolated energy-saving projects to holistic, platform-driven strategies for reducing emissions, the report said.

Cases collected in 2019 and 2020 are dominated by project-based ones concentrating on cold chain retrofits, energy-efficient equipment and green buildings.

A shift toward system-level climate solutions began in 2021, with collected cases featuring platform-driven digital tools such as carbon ledgers and incentive systems that year, according to the report. This evolution continued with an inclusive carbon reduction mechanism in 2022, and zero-carbon parks and carbon finance instruments in 2023.

The inclusive carbon reduction mechanism is designed to encourage micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the general public, to embrace green, low-carbon approaches toward production and life through incentives.

The report said that cases collected in 2024 underscored consistent advancement of system-level climate solutions through two key developments: a deeper push into zero-carbon parks and more mature, platform-based and digitally integrated inclusive carbon reduction mechanisms.

Yang Peidan, executive director of C Team and one of the primary contributors to the report, said she observed a strategic shift among companies from internal emission cuts to building collaborative frameworks for decarbonization.

Another trend in recent years is the growing role of anchor enterprises in different industrial chains, taking the helm to orchestrate industry-wide decarbonization, she said, adding that companies are actively exploring ways to collaborate with their supply chains and partners to achieve broader climate goals.

For example, Ningbo Iron & Steel Co in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, has joined hands with its supply chain partners and third-party logistics providers to make consistent efforts to achieve green solutions for its transportation operations.

Since completing its ultralow-emission transportation upgrades in April 2023, the company has deployed 108 heavy-duty electric trucks throughout its supply chain and established 23 on-site charging stations. The effort has enabled new energy vehicles to carry 35 percent of the company's bulk material and product shipments.

Yang underscored that the trends identified in the report are truly inspiring. "They not only reflect the continuous enhancement of Chinese enterprises' capacity to address climate change, but also demonstrate the synergistic progress of green, low-carbon transformation and high-quality economic development," she said.