Energy transformation crucial for China’s carbon neutrality goal: report

This photo taken on Nov. 13, 2024 shows a China Pavilion side event on China’s energy transformation and new energy development in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. The Executive Summary of China Energy Transformation Outlook 2024 (CETO 2024), released Wednesday at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Baku, Azerbaijan, focuses on China’s energy transformation and new energy development. (Xinhua/Meng Jing)
BAKU, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) — A recent report suggests that successful energy transformation can significantly contribute to China’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality across its economic and social systems before 2060.
The Executive Summary of China Energy Transformation Outlook 2024 (CETO 2024), released Wednesday at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Baku, Azerbaijan, focuses on China’s energy transformation and new energy development.
Liu Zhenmin, China’s special envoy for climate change, said at a China Pavilion side event that proactively adapting to climate change, promoting energy transformation, and fostering green and low-carbon development have become critical global tasks for the present and foreseeable future.
Four years ago, China announced its “dual carbon” goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. Liu said that since then, China has steadily advanced energy transformation and achieved remarkable strides, contributing significantly to global climate response and green transformation.
He expected the CETO 2024 would provide forward-looking and innovative solutions for a low-carbon energy transformation.
International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol noted that China is a frontrunner in the global clean energy sector. Rapid growth in its clean energy capacity benefits not only China but also the world.
He hoped that China would further accelerate technological innovation and its application, thus supporting the international community to benefit from China’s green development while advancing its energy transformation.
The summary presents recent global energy transformation trends. It analyzes the prospects for China’s energy production and consumption transformation and explores pathways and technological solutions for achieving net-zero carbon emissions in China’s energy system under different international cooperation scenarios, said Bai Quan, director of the Energy Efficiency Center at the Energy Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research.
Denmark’s Under-Secretary for Development Policy from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ole Thonke said that China and Denmark launched a Green Joint Work Programme last year, making climate change response and energy transformation a core part of bilateral cooperation.
Thonke said the CETO 2024 is the result of close collaboration between China and Denmark. It aims to study pathways and optimal development plans for the low-carbon transformation of China’s energy system.
He hoped the research findings would guide the energy transformation of both countries and the international community. ■

International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol delivers a speech at a China Pavilion side event on China’s energy transformation and new energy development in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, Nov. 13, 2024. The Executive Summary of China Energy Transformation Outlook 2024 (CETO 2024), released Wednesday at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Baku, Azerbaijan, focuses on China’s energy transformation and new energy development. (Xinhua/Meng Jing)

This photo taken on Nov. 13, 2024 shows the Executive Summary of China Energy Transformation Outlook 2024 (CETO 2024) in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan. The CETO 2024, released Wednesday at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Baku, Azerbaijan, focuses on China’s energy transformation and new energy development. (Xinhua/Meng Jing)

Denmark’s Under-Secretary for Development Policy from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ole Thonke delivers a speech at a China Pavilion side event on China’s energy transformation and new energy development in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, Nov. 13, 2024. The Executive Summary of China Energy Transformation Outlook 2024 (CETO 2024), released Wednesday at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Baku, Azerbaijan, focuses on China’s energy transformation and new energy development. (Xinhua/Meng Jing)