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The material flow analysis (MFA) method is widely used in the fields of resource management, environmental governance, and sustainable development evaluation, but the progress of its international research and the paths to support carbon neutrality are still unclear. Therefore, following the logic of ' sorting-integration - expansion,' this study first analyzed 2 148 documents included in the core database of Web of Science from 2000 to 2022 by using CiteSpace bibliometric tools, captured the key knowledge base and topic evolution of the international MFA research, and conducted a detailed review and comprehensive analysis of the MFA frontier application research. Second, by integrating the current status of international MFA research and the paths to carbon neutrality, this study constructed an integrated MFA research framework towards carbon neutrality. Finally, this paper summarized the support paths of MFA application research for the four important carbon reduction sectors and proposed current research deficiencies and future development directions. The main findings include: (J) The key studies in the fields of ' resource management,' ' environmental accounting,' and ' indicators ' could serve as a methodological and theoretical basis for MFA to perform its management, accounting, and evaluation functions. © With the support of the basic research topics of 'industrial ecology,' 'material flow analysis,' and 'material flow management, ' the application research topics of MFA had gradually evolved from the outdated topics of ' nitrogen,' ' Tarragona province,' ' heavy metals,' and ' alloying elements' to the frontier topics of ' municipal solid wastes,' ' iron,' ' circular economy,' ' exposure,' and ' renewable energy,' and the integrated application of MFA with the methodologies of scenario analysis, life-cycle assessment, and input-output modeling had become a mainstream trend. © The integrated MFA research framework towards carbon neutrality consisted of three modules, i.e., theoretical and methodological basis, application research paradigm, and supporting pathway for carbon neutrality, of which the structure of the application research paradigm reflected the core functions of the MFA, i.e., accounting material stocks and flows, assessing material demand and recycling potential, and developing the material management system. The elements of the application research paradigm covered the metabolic object, spatial scale, application triggers, main content, and application purpose of MFA research. ® The studies of MFA application supported the four important carbon reduction sectors in heterogeneous ways, and their relevance to the goal of achieving carbon neutrality needed to be further improved. In future research, MFA can be applied to account for the resource demand and waste generation of specific zero-carbon technologies in the energy production sector, to assess the resource and environmental impacts of end-use electrification, efficiency, and cleaner technologies in the energy consumption sector, to measure the environmental exposures and economic feasibility of the technologies for decarbonization and solid-waste utilization in the industrial and commercial sectors, and to evaluate the metabolic efficiency of nutrients and the performance of biological carbon fixation in the agriculture and forestry sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assuming responsibility for emission reduction is an important part of participating in the global governance of climate change. Countries with a carbon neutrality target now cover about 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carrying out fairness evaluations of their carbon neutrality targets provide a strong basis for the global carbon inventory. In this paper, the target years of carbon neutrality for major countries and regions under the global target of 2 °C and 1.5 °C are studied using the burden sharing model. On this basis, this paper simulates the possible pathways of carbon neutrality and evaluates the ambition of emission reduction targets in terms of annual emission reduction, per capita emission, and cumulative per capita emission. The results show that, from the perspective of equity, most of the developing countries cannot meet the global goal of 1.5 °C. The United States and the European Union nations could achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 by continuing their annual emission reductions under their existing NDC targets. However, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, China's annual emission reduction rate from 2030 to 2050 will be 6.7%, and the annual amount of emission reduction accounts for 51% of the global amount under the 1.5 °C target. Meanwhile, China would become the main force behind global cumulative emissions in the following decades. Thus, the emission reduction pathways China chooses will have an important impact on global climate mitigation progress. Based on the above research conclusions, this paper proposes that developed countries and developing countries should explore bilateral or multilateral cooperation in technology and finance in the field of climate change. Under the great pressure to achieve carbon neutrality, China needs to carry out research on the overall emission reduction pathways as soon as possible and clarify the paths at the scale of sectors, industries, provinces, and time stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River Basin is a key strategic area for China to achieve its carbon emission reduction goal. Making scientific decisions on the carbon emission quota scheme for cities in the Yellow River Basin under the requirements of the 2030 carbon emission reduction goal and clarifying the goals and responsibilities of carbon emission quotas in the areas along the Yellow River are crucial to the successful achievement of the dual goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. Most of the existing research schemes require the emission reduction areas to reduce carbon emissions only, ignoring the existence of new demand for carbon emissions in the Yellow River Basin before the due date of the goal of reaching peak carbon emissions. Furthermore, radical carbon reduction could seriously damage the safe operation of the economic development along the Yellow River. This paper took the total carbon emissions of the Yellow River Basin under the 2030 carbon emission reduction goal as the control goal and constructed a two-stage allow; cation model of carbon emission quotas for cities along the Yellow River Basin from the perspective of ensuring regional equitable development and promoting global efficiency optimization. In stage one, we established the allocation idea of ‘basic quota + added quota,’ determined the basic quota according to the current base of carbon emissions, and took into account the differences in regional emission reduction capacity, potential, responsibility, and development demand. The Entropy Weight-TOPSIS method was used to allocate the growth space of carbon emissions, and added quotas were reserved to ensure the safe operation and development of emission reduction areas. In stage two, to ensure the allocation efficiency of the quota scheme, a zero-sum game DDF model of heterogeneous grouping of cutting-edge technologies was constructed to obtain an efficiency-optimized allocation scheme while controlling the emission reduction range and reserving new quotas. The research found that: ① In the face of the goal of reducing emissions by 2030, regions along the Yellow River still have the demand and the right to increase carbon emissions. At the same time, to avoid blindly rushing to reach peak carbon emissions, these regions should undertake ‘common but differentiated; quota responsibilities. Among them, regions with high energy consumption and emissions bear relatively high pressure to reduce emissions. ② When low-carbon emission regions improve efficiency through carbon emission reduction, they should control the extent and intensity of carbon reduction to ensure the safety of the implementation of emission reduction schemes. The zero-sum game DDF model of technology frontier grouping, which overcomes the disadvantage of traditional efficiency allocation methods that could lead to extreme allocation, can not only optimize the allocation of efficiency, but also avoid radical large-scale adjustments of carbon quotas. ③ The allocation of carbon emission quotas in the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin has spatial differences. The upper reaches bear heavy ecological protection responsibilities and should shoulder higher limit responsibilities. Considering the needs of regional economic development and the difficulties of short-term adjustment of the energy structure, the middle and lower reaches should be allocated relatively high carbon emission quotas to ensure their smooth transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep decarbonization aims to achieve the profound transformation of energy systems through steeply reducing carbon intensity in all sectors of the economy, which is the only way to achieve the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. It is of great practical significance for China to clarify the research themes and identify the research evolution trend of deep decarbonization. We first analyzed the connotation and characteristics of deep decarbonization, based on which we deeply read the related academic literature and the frontier reports issued by international organizations and research institutions to make a systematic review of relevant research themes. Moreover, based on the identification results of research hotspots and research frontiers of deep decarbonization obtained by bibliometric analysis, we analyzed the evolution trend of deep decarbonization research. The research found that: ① Deep decarbonization is essentially to promote the deployment of carbon reduction, zero carbon, and negative carbon technologies to achieve the transition of the entire energy system from a high carbon emission type to a net-zero emission type through technological, social, and economic policy paths. Compared with normal decarbonization, the characteristics of coverage and path planning determine that deep decarbonization is a more advanced decarbonizing process. ② The research themes of deep decarbonization mainly fall into four categories: challenges faced by deep decarbonization, technological paths of deep decarbonization, policy research oriented to deep decarbonization, and cost and benefit evaluation of deep decarbonization. ③ The evolutionary trend of deep decarbonization research can be divided into two stages. In the initial stage (2015-2018), the framework, including subdivided research fields and research frontiers of deep decarbonization research, was initially formed. In the rapid development stage (2019-2021), more detailed emerging research topics were emerging in the field of deep decarbonization research, and scholars began to turn to new research perspectives. Finally, the implications of deep decarbonization research for China were proposed: In terms of research perspective, deep decarbonization research should be expanded to the micro-subject level and to research on issues such as decarbonization of the corporate value chain and corporate decarbonization potential assessment with an interdisciplinary perspective. In terms of research methods and paradigms, multidisciplinary research methods should be used to better develop comprehensive models supporting accurate decision-making. New paradigms such as big data, machine learning, and simulation can be explored in deep decarbonization research. In terms of research content, this paper suggests the expansion of the current research boundary of deep decarbonization through studying the incentive mechanisms, investment and financing mechanisms, identification of emerging technologies, construction of technology systems, and establishment of cost-benefit evaluation frameworks, models and methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and recent research literatures, from the perspective of the impacts and risks of climate change, this paper attempts to interpret several climate tipping points that may be exceeded due to global warming and explain mitigation measures such as carbon dioxide emission peak and carbon neutrality taken by the international community. The importance and urgency of adaptability research in different systems or regions are discussed. The main conclusions are as follows: ① In the past century, especially since the 1970s, global warming has been increasing rapidly, while the warming rate of China􀆳s land and sea is higher than that of the global average. ② In 2019, the atmosphere concentration of CO2, the main driver of global warming, has reached 410.5 ppm, which was 148% of the pre⁃industrial (1750) level and the highest at any time for at least 2 million years. ③ The risks of climate change will increase disproportionately as global temperature quickly increases. The climate tipping points (thresholds) of some systems may be exceeded or occur earlier than expected, causing abrupt and irreversible changes. ④ With the increase of global warming, nine global climate tipping points may being exceeded, including large⁃scale bleach⁃ ing and death of warm water coral reefs, accelerated melting of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning circulation, etc., and there is also a risk of domino effect. ⑤ In order to address the impacts and risks of climate warming, it is necessary to limit global temperature rise in this century to 2 ℃ (preferably 1.5 ℃) above pre⁃industrial levels (1850-1900). Com⁃ pared with 2010, the global net anthropogenic CO2 emissions need to be reduced by about 25% (45%) by 2030 and achieve carbon neu⁃ trality in around 2070 (2050). ⑥ Taking warm water coral reefs as an example, this paper discusses and analyzes that the tipping point of damaged coral reefs in China may be firstly exceeded due to the high warming rate of the China Seas. Therefore, it is urgent to restore and strengthen the climate resilience of different systems or regions such as damaged coral reefs, so as to improve their ability to adapt to climate change. In addition, a breakthrough has recently been made in the research on in situ sexual reproduction and restoration of damaged coral reefs in China, which provides a positive prospect for reconstructing the resilience of damaged coral reefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has pledged to peak its carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. New energy decarbonization will be a major focus area for achieving the 'dual carbon' goals since it accounts for about 20 percent of China' s total energy consumption. The Xiong' an New Area' s geographical advantages and natural endowments have brought abundant wind and solar energy resources and have huge development potential in the field of new energy development. This paper summarizes the Xiong' an New Area' s resource endowment and achievements in developing new energy, and comprehensively analyzes the opportunities and challenges faced by this area in the process of building a national new energy demonstration zone in the context of achieving the 'dual carbon' goals. It sorts out the new energy development policy of the Xiong' an New Area and its history of new energy development and then points out that the current development of new energy in this area lies in power project construction, power grid construction, green energy consumption, energy storage development, and new energy equipment. This study believes that the Xiong' an New Area will experience three development stages of carbon neutrality: initial carbon neutrality, fluctuating carbon neutrality, and stable carbon neutrality, because this area has carried out green power planning simultaneously in the initial construction stage and has more green power supply. With the expansion of population and economic scale, the rapid increase in energy demand would lead to the decline in green power supply ratio, causing carbon neutrality to fluctuate and change over time. With the population and economic structure in a stable development stage, the proportion of high-value-added and high-tech industries would increase, and energy utilization technologies such as green electricity would make progress, resulting in the arrival of the stable carbon neutrality development stage. On the other hand, from the perspective of carbon sink potential corresponding to carbon sources, the planned proportion of the blue-green space and the construction land in the Xiong' an New Area would keep its carbon sink capacity in a relatively stable state for a long period of time. Therefore, in addition to the value-added of the natural carbon sink system, carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies and other means of artificial carbon sink can be used as adjustment tools under the carbon neutrality system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world' s largest energy consumer and carbon emitter, China faces a serious situation in energy conservation and emission reduction. However, China' s digital economy is still developing rapidly. In order to explore how the development of the digital economy affects energy consumption and CO2 emissions, this paper took the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2019 as a sample, used the entropy method to analyze the digital economy level of each province, and built a double fixed effect model to empirically analyze the 'positive U-shaped' or 'inverted U-shaped' relationship between the digital economy and energy or between the digital economy and CO2 emissions. The results showed that: (1) There were inter-provincial and regional differences in the level of digital economy in China. Guangdong Province and China' s eastern region had the highest level of digital economy, while Qinghai Province and the western region had the lowest level of digital economy. (2) Both the digital economy and ECSC and the digital economy and CESC had significant ' positive U-shaped' relationships, while the digital economy and ECST, the digital economy and ECEF, and the digital economy and CEEF all had significant 'inverted U-shaped' relationships. The energy-saving effect of the development of the digital economy was greater than the carbon emission reduction effect. (3) There was heterogeneity in the nonlinear relationship between the digital economy and ECSC, ECST, and ECEF, the digital economy and CESC, and CEEF in the eastern, central, western, and northeastern regions. (4) Digital infrastructure, digital innovation environment, digital user scale, and digital industry scale had different nonlinear effects on ECSC, ECST, and ECEF, as well as on CESC and CEEF. Accordingly, to provide empirical support and a theoretical basis for China's development of the digital economy while taking into account the effects of energy conservation and carbon emission reduction, this study puts forward relevant policy suggestions from three aspects: narrowing the gap in the level of digital economy, formulating digital economy development policies, and focusing on key points for the development of the digital economy. These suggestions are also conducive to boosting China's goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming is evolving into a crisis affecting the future of humanity. As the world' s second largest economy, China is actively involved in global climate governance, proposing to achieve the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, and has successively introduced the corresponding ' 1+N' policy system. This paper attempts to interpret and analyze 23 policy texts relevant to the achievement of the goals with over 160 000 characters from the CPC Central Committee, the State Council, and relevant ministries and provinces through two typical qualitative research methods-ground theory and institutional grammar tool, to outline the elemental structure and functional profile of the pathways of China' s carbon peak and carbon neutrality policies, and to clarify the group structure and regulation intensity of different policy pathways. Based on grounded theory, it is found that these pathways are already very comprehensive and complete. Among them, the policy pathways under the administrative mechanism include: high energy consumption and high emission industrial control; regulations and standards systems; carbon reduction governance in key industries; control over the amount and intensity of energy consumption; and carbon absorption capacity of ecosystems. The policy pathways under the market mechanism include circular economy development; energy transformation development; cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions; green finance development; and green transformation development. The results of institutional grammar tool research show that relevant policy pathways are dominated by ADIC normative condition statements (177, accounting for 52%), followed by AIC strategy statements (130, accounting for 38%), while ADICO rule-based statements are the least, with only 33, accounting for 10%. Given the pressure of time constraints and heavy tasks to achieve the goals, ADICO' s institutional grammar structure is the most desirable policy statement paradigm because it is more intense in its policy regulation, and it is easier to achieve its governance effectiveness. Undoubtedly, policy regulation is an important tool to effectively alleviate the pressure of the governance of the goals and to ensure the effectiveness of such governance. Policy regulation mainly focuses on the industrial sector with high energy consumption and high emissions, relying on top-down hierarchical organization and using political mobilization and administrative decrees as means to promote governance in the high carbon emission sector. By further constructing a theoretical framework of regulation mechanisms, relevant governance paradigms are classified as ' mandatory governance' and ' flexible governance' according to the intensity of regulation. It is found that the underlying logic behind these two paradigms is precisely the mobilization of the administrative mechanism and the allocation of resources under the market mechanism. Simultaneously, with the gradual achievement of the goals and the gradual decoupling of carbon emissions from economic development, the governance logic should gradually shift from ' mandatory governance' to ' flexible governance,' and from ' administrative hierarchical mobilization' to ' balanced allocation of market resources.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a speech at the UN General Assembly on September 22, 2020, President Xi Jinping announced that China would peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. China has issued a series of documents on the carbon peaking and neutrality goals, which have become hot issues in society. The concept of carbon peaking is relatively easy to understand, but for that of carbon neutrality, there are some misunderstandings, such as mixed use of different terms and ambiguous scope, classification, and relationships between related concepts, which not only directly affect the implementation of the 'dual carbon' goals in China, but also impede China􀆳s participation in global climate governance and international climate cooperation towards the goal of carbon neutrality. This paper attempts to trace the origin and evolution of the concept of carbon neutrality. It sorts out the different expressions of the carbon neutrality goal, compares the differences and correlations between related concepts, and discusses the key elements and implications of the concept of carbon neutrality. The discussion leads to the following conclusions: ① The concept of carbon neutrality was introduced to the field of global climate governance after carbon trading and carbon offsetting had been proposed in the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. ② The concept of carbon neutrality has both narrow and broad senses. Narrowly speaking, it refers to carbon dioxide neutrality, while in a broad sense, it is a collective term for related concepts such as carbon dioxide neutrality, greenhouse gas neutrality, climate neutrality, net zero carbon dioxide emissions, and net zero greenhouse gas emissions. In the international community, the expression 'net zero' is more widely used. ③ To understand the concept of carbon neutrality, four elements need to be grasped: the balance between the source and removal of anthropogenic emissions; multiple implementation entities and their carbon accounting boundaries; the scope of emissions (covering merely carbon dioxide or all greenhouse gases); and carbon neutralization paths including carbon emission reduction, carbon removal, carbon offsets, etc. ④ Clarifying the concept of carbon neutrality is the basis for efficiently implementing the 'dual carbon' goals and promoting international cooperation. The terms used in the legal documents and IPCC guidelines and reports approved in the UNFCCC negotiations are internationally accepted concepts and norms. They are recognized by various governments and serve as an important foundation for scientific research as well as the cognitive basis for international negotiations and actions. The definition and interpretation of the concept of carbon neutrality should be consistent with the international community as much as possible to form a unified understanding that is not only conducive to promoting international cooperation towards carbon neutrality, but also to China' s implementation of the Paris Agreement and advancement of work towards the 'dual carbon' goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]