Opinion on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transition in Social and Economic Development 

In September 2024, China has issued several key policy documents to expand and gradually refine both its compliance carbon market and its voluntary emissions reduction mechanisms.  
The Work Plan for Expanding the National Carbon Emissions Trading Market to Include the Cement, Steel, and Electrolytic Aluminium Industries released by the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) at the beginning of September 2024 has garnered widespread attention. The draft that has been put up for public consultation proposes the inclusion of high-emission sectors such as cement, iron and steel, as well as electrolytic aluminium into the national carbon trading system (referred to as national ETS), starting already in 2024. This move will greatly expand the market’s coverage to around 8 Gts of CO2, which make up 60% of China’s total emissions, according to the MEE.

To make a first assessment on the implementation of the National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change 2035, China’s Ministry of Ecology and the Environment (MEE) issued a progress report on China’s climate change adaptation on June 2, which systematically summarizes the achievements of China’s adaptation to climate change since 2022.

With its action plan, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) aims to provide guidance to China’s cement sector for achieving energy savings and carbon reduction. The main goals of the plan are to keep cement clinker production capacity at about 1.8 billion tons and to support the entire industry to comply with rules under an efficiency benchmark. The energy intensity of cement clinker production is targeted to decrease by 3.7% compared with 2020, thereby saving 5 million tons of standard coal and 13 million tons of CO2 by 2025.