On June 29, the State Council executive meeting reviewed and approved the “15th Five-Year Plan” Carbon Peak Action Plan (hereinafter referred to as the “Action Plan”), setting out key priorities and implementation pathways for carbon peak efforts in the coming period.
The meeting emphasized the need to fully leverage the strategic guidance of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, promote economic restructuring and upgrading through green and low-carbon transformation, and foster new drivers of green economic growth. In the next stage, efforts will focus on key industries and critical areas, including adjustments to the energy system, green transformation of industries, and the improvement of related institutional frameworks. Measures will be taken to accelerate the development of laws, regulations, standards, and carbon emission statistical accounting mechanisms, while implementing scientific evaluation and assessment systems. Green and low-carbon principles will be integrated throughout the entire process of economic and social development, promoting the formation of greener production methods and lifestyles.
The “15th Five-Year Plan” period represents a crucial stage for achieving the domestic goal of reaching carbon peak before 2030, as well as a key period for making breakthroughs in green transformation. Sun Chuanwang, a professor at the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, stated that the implementation of the Action Plan will further promote energy conservation, carbon reduction, and transformation upgrades in traditional industries. It will encourage high-energy-consuming sectors such as industry, construction, and transportation to optimize energy utilization models, adjust industrial structures, accelerate the green transformation of production processes, and explore new pathways for green and circular development in industrial parks.
It is worth noting that the meeting placed particular emphasis on cultivating more sources of green economic growth. Sun Chuanwang pointed out that green and low-carbon industries, including clean energy, new energy vehicles, and resource recycling, are still experiencing rapid growth and have significant market potential for future development.
He noted that the implementation of the Action Plan will further guide emerging green industries to strengthen research and development of key technologies, enhance industrial competitiveness, and promote the establishment of a globally competitive green and low-carbon industrial system. Meanwhile, the integration of digital technologies with green development will become an important direction for future industrial upgrading. By promoting coordinated digitalization and green transformation, energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies can be applied across more industries and broader scenarios, accelerating the development of new green industrial models and business formats.
In recent years, the domestic policy framework for green and low-carbon development has continued to improve. In April this year, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Comprehensive Evaluation and Assessment Measures, further clarifying requirements for evaluating and assessing carbon peak and carbon neutrality initiatives. Previously, the Opinions on Promoting Green and Low-Carbon Transformation and Strengthening the Development of the National Carbon Market proposed steadily expanding the coverage of the carbon emission trading market and guiding key energy-consuming industries to reduce carbon emissions, providing institutional support for green transformation across the economy and society.
Sun Chuanwang stated that with the implementation of the Action Plan, the objectives and roadmap for carbon peak initiatives during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period will become clearer, while creating stronger synergy with policy tools such as evaluation mechanisms and the national carbon market. While accelerating the green upgrading of traditional industries, the plan will also further unlock the growth potential of green industries and provide sustained momentum for high-quality economic development.
Reprinted from steel.com
