On September 22, 2020, at the General Debate of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced that China will scale up its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by adopting more vigorous policies and measures. He declared that China aims to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. “China will scale up its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions by adopting more vigorous policies and measures,” Xi said. “We call on all countries to pursue innovative, coordinated, green and open development for all.”
According to Professor He Jiankun, Deputy Director of the National Committee of Experts on Climate Change, research shows that China faces major challenges in its development transformation. The 2060 carbon-neutral scenario requires China to achieve near-zero emissions by 2050 and build a sustainable energy system with new energy and renewable energy as the mainstay. To achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 requires a huge transformation in all aspects of the social, economic, energy, and technological systems.