At present, China's economic and social development has entered a high-quality development stage of accelerating green and low-carbon development. Huang Runqiu, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said on the 7th that the next step would be to give full play to the leading, optimizing and forcing role of ecological environment protection and accelerate the promotion of green and low-carbon development. By the end of this year, in addition to the existing power industry, the national carbon emission trading market will also include key emission industries such as steel, cement and aluminium smelting. We will further improve the carbon pricing mechanism and accelerate the establishment of a carbon footprint management system. Huang Runqiu
made the above statement at the "2024 Global Energy Transition Conference" which opened in Beijing on the same day.
"Energy is an important material basis for human survival and development, and low-carbon energy development is related to the future of mankind." Huang Runqiu said that accelerating the green and low-carbon transformation of energy can promote the development of renewable energy and industrial upgrading, solve the outstanding problems of resource and environmental constraints, and also help to achieve pollution reduction and carbon reduction, improve the ecological environment and address climate change synergies.
Reporters learned from the meeting that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has accelerated the construction of a clean, low-carbon, efficient and safe energy system, and carried out in-depth coordinated governance of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, with remarkable results. The number of coal-fired boilers and industrial kilns in China has been reduced from nearly 500,000 to less than 100,000, reducing the use of coal by more than 400 million tons. In northern China, about 37 million rural households have completed the treatment of loose coal, reducing the consumption of loose coal by more than 70 million tons. The world's largest carbon emission trading market has been established, covering more than 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. China has also vigorously promoted the development of renewable energy, and the installed capacity of hydropower, photovoltaic and wind power ranks first in the world. Compared with 2013, the concentration of PM2.5 in key cities in China decreased by 54% in 2023, and the number of days of heavy pollution decreased by 83%. China has become the country with the fastest air quality improvement in the world.
Huang Runqiu said that in the next step, we will give full play to the leading, optimizing and forcing role of ecological environment protection, and focus on accelerating green and low-carbon development from three aspects:
First, actively cultivate and develop green productivity. Deeply implement the ecological environment management system of sub-regional, differentiated and precise control. We will accelerate the optimization and adjustment of industrial structure, energy structure and transportation structure, and comprehensively carry out coordinated innovation in pollution reduction and carbon reduction in various fields and at various levels. We will improve economic policies for green and low-carbon development, promote the development and application of green and low-carbon technologies, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of the environmental protection industry.
Second, actively respond to climate change. We will implement the "1 + N" policy system for carbon peak and carbon neutralization, and promote the gradual shift from dual control of energy consumption to dual control of carbon emissions. We will further strengthen the construction of the carbon market, steadily expand the coverage of the industry, enrich the trading varieties and methods, and improve the national voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading market. By the end of this year, in addition to the existing power industry, the national carbon emission trading market will also include key emission industries such as steel, cement and aluminium smelting. We will further improve the carbon pricing mechanism and accelerate the establishment of a carbon footprint management system.
Third, actively participate in global climate governance. We will constructively participate in the multilateral process on climate change and actively promote international cooperation on climate change. Promote the success of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku (COP29). We will deepen South-South cooperation on climate change.
The cement industry will soon be incorporated into the carbon trading market, and the importance of green low-carbon transformation has become increasingly apparent. To this end, China Cement Network will hold the " 2024 China Cement Double Carbon Conference and the 12th Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Technology Exchange Conference " in Wuhu Conch International Hotel on October 24-25. The conference will focus on the core issues of low-carbon development and green upgrading in the cement industry, discuss the application of energy efficiency improvement and energy-saving and carbon reduction technologies, and how the cement industry can use the carbon trading mechanism to promote its low-carbon transformation. After the meeting, we will visit the Wuhu Conch Energy Storage Project.
