Carbon goals will drive high-quality development

Editor's note: China's carbon peaking and neutrality goals should steer the transformation and upgrading of the country's economic structure. Yu Zhaowu, a researcher at the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering at Fudan University, and Zhu Keli, founding director of the China Institute of New Economy, shared their insights on what the dual carbon goals mean for China's economy. Below are excerpts of their comments, as reported by the Chengdu-based Hongxing News. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

China's carbon peaking goal is more than an environmental target. It is a fundamental driver of high-quality economic development. In the future, green and low-carbon development will be a core task for urban planning, industrial upgrading, the energy transition and technological innovation.

Today, carbon emissions constraints affect production, circulation and consumption. This is making the economy shift from the traditional development model of high energy consumption and high emissions toward a high-quality path of resource conservation and green growth.

When local governments formulate their respective action plans for the development of local industries, industrial parks and the energy sector, they should prioritize controlling both the intensity and total volume of carbon emissions. They should also focus on increasing the share of non-fossil energy in the total energy consumption and reducing carbon emissions in key industries.

They should establish assessment mechanisms to evaluate the carbon emissions of new projects before they are launched. They should include a strict evaluation of the energy efficiency and carbon footprints of high-energy-consuming projects.

At the same time, governments should formulate plans for developing green sectors such as wind and solar power and energy storage, and set their own timelines for achieving carbon peaking based on local natural resources.

Market-based measures, such as carbon emissions trading, green finance and green procurement, should continue to play their roles to promote the green transition of companies, encouraging investments in energy-saving retrofits, green power, carbon capture and eco-friendly materials.

The shift toward a green economy will drive the eco-friendly upgrading of nearly all industries, giving rise to many new sectors, including new energy, energy storage, green building, ecological restoration and carbon management services.

The transition will also create numerous new occupations, including carbon accounting, environmental, social and governance management and smart energy management. Urban development, in particular, will require interdisciplinary talents skilled in ecology, data and artificial intelligence. Essentially, the green economy will generate new productive forces and create high-quality jobs.

A unified, scientific and transparent carbon emissions statistics and accounting system is also needed. Carbon assessments should not focus merely on short-term emissions reduction, but also on long-term green capacity building.

A differentiated assessment mechanism should also be put in place. Regions vary widely in their development stages, industrial structures and natural resources. Targeted policies should be rolled out to balance carbon reduction with efforts to ensure economic growth, so that the green transition will act as a driving force rather than a hindrance for high-quality development.