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Carbon abatement efforts in China are penetrating to sub-national level. Zhejiang province, as the 4th wealthy region in China and important player in global market (e.g., textiles, cloth, petroleum, and chemical products), lacks in-depth study of its climate change mitigation efforts, especially after China's accession to the WTO in 2001. This paper analyzed carbon emissions and intensity in Zhejiang province using most comprehensive and time-series dataset available to date since 2002. Its carbon emissions were growing at a declining speed, and carbon intensity was almost halved. The leading emitters largely agglomerate around Hangzhou Bay, close to Zhoushan Port and Shanghai Port. The growth in absolute emissions primarily arose from higher investment (323.1 Mt) and exports (280.6 Mt), while the slower growth was mainly due to efficiency improvements (− 245.7 Mt) stemming from energy and carbon abatement policies and inflows of emission-intensive products from the rest of China. Similarly, declined carbon intensity was mainly attributed to efficiency improvement. Major contributors were sector S13-Non-metallic minerals, S12-Chemicals, S26-Transport, storage and post, S07-Textiles, and S10-Paper. Economic restructuring played different roles on emissions and intensity during various development stages. Policy implications of the findings are discussed for future developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of China's rapid growth and increasing engagement in the global climate regime, the authoritarian regulatory model has attracted attention from researchers and policymakers alike. This paper examines the question of to what extent and in what way state authoritarianism leads to (un)successful environmental policy implementation in China, with particular attention to energy transformation. This study inter-connects macro and micro inquiries through a case study of nuclear energy policy in China. An examination of the extended policy cycle as a comprehensive process that brings a policy to fruition shows that authoritarian regulatory environmental policy intervenes in each stage, resulting in a particular path of the evolution of environmental policy in nuclearising energy transformation in China. Adding to commonly accepted tenets of authoritarian environmentalism in general, the explanations of Chinese distinctiveness in materialising environmental policy enhances the understanding of the merits and challenges of authoritarian mechanisms of environmental policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The realization of the value of ecological products has led to an economic means for reducing carbon emissions in China. Tea is one of the most important cash crops and one of the most popular beverages in the world. Due to the complex the tea industrial chain, it is considered to be an industry with high carbon emissions. Ecological tea products with low-carbon attributes can be considered a linkage of ecology, economy, and society. Based on this, this paper presents research on low-carbon ecological tea (LCT). Herein, we construct the formational logic of low-carbon ecological products, explore the connotations of LCT, and form a conceptual pathway for realizing LCT to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation. This paper starts from the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the industrial chain; it establishes three value realization pathways that keep, as a priority, the promotion of ecological industrialization, focus on restoration to improve the ecology of the industrial chain, and innovate technology to expand the industrial chain. The pathways are a set of low-emission production solutions that use techniques to enhance carbon sequestration in soil, reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides, and help shift to clean energy from low-emission sources in the stages of plantation, processing, and distribution. In the process of realizing LCT, the government plays an important role, and its support and guidance are needed. Based on stakeholder theory, this paper builds an implementation mechanism that focuses on the micro perspective (users, organizations), integrates the mesoscopic perspective (industry), and relies on the macro perspective (government). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Dual Carbon" initiative is a two-stage carbon reduction goal proposed by China, with significant implications for global climate change mitigation. This article examines the impact of the "Dual Carbon" strategy on China's forestry development and explores how to leverage this strategy to facilitate the transformation and advancement of the forestry sector. Current review indicated that forestry has the advantage of achieving higher emission reduction targets at a low cost. Starting with an overview of the "Dual Carbon" strategy, this paper analyzes the carbon sequestration potential of plants and soil, and the challenges and opportunities faced by forestry development under this framework. Furthermore, we outline implementation pathways for forestry development, aiming to provide insights for the progress of China's forestry sector. Overall, it should be noted that the priority is to vigorously develop timber resources, and we also need to vigorously develop and protect forestry talent with the support of China's policies. By trapping into the carbon storage capabilities and leveraging carbon trading mechanisms of forests, a favorable ecological environment can be created, thus achieving the goal of carbon neutrality. Highlights: • Forest development and its carbon sinks, attributed to plant and soil have the potential in carbon sequestration process, thus helping China achieve carbon neutrality. • The supply of forest products and the balance of economic growth and environmental protection are the key difficulties under the "Dual Carbon" strategy. • Trading forest carbon sinks can boost China's sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Planning Education & Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The scientific assessment of mariculture carbon sinks is crucial to recognize its potential as a significant component of marine blue carbon in global climate change mitigation. Therefore, the objective of the research was to estimate the seaweed and shellfish mariculture carbon sink of different varieties in various sea areas. The paper emphasized the distinction between short-term carbon sequestration in seaweed and shellfish that can be removed and long-term carbon sequestration that is deposited. Methodologically, the evaluation was based on the carbon sequestration mechanism and systematic pathways in shellfish and seaweeds. Additionally, the carbon sequestration of shellfish and seaweed aquaculture over the last decade was evaluated by the carbon sink assessment model, and the reasons for the differences in the carbon sink capacity of mariculture in China's coastal provinces were discussed by using the LMDI decomposition model. The results indicated the carbon sequestration of offshore seaweeds and shellfish mariculture in China was huge. From 2010 to 2020, offshore seaweed aquaculture in China amounted to 7.959 Mt C/a, while shellfish aquaculture contributed 33.542 Mt C/a to the carbon sinks. Sedimentary carbon sequestration by shellfish accounted for 51% of the total carbon sequestration in mariculture involving shellfish and seaweeds. Especially noteworthy is the sedimentary carbon sequestration by shellfish, which is an indispensable and crucial component of mariculture carbon sequestration estimation. It is concluded that improvements in farming efficiency exerted the greatest influence on the variations of the mariculture carbon sink, while adjustments in farming structure had a relatively minor impact in the case of little change in aquaculture yield. Enhancing farming efficiency emerges as a practical approach to bolstering the carbon sink potential of marine aquaculture fisheries in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of increasingly severe global climate change, finding effective carbon emission reduction strategies has become key to mitigating climate change. Environmental Protection Tax (EPT), as a widely recognized method, effectively promotes climate change mitigation by encouraging emission reduction behaviors and promoting the application of clean technologies. Based on data from 282 cities in China, this paper takes the official implementation of the EPT in 2018 as the policy impact and the cities with increased tax rates for air taxable pollutants as the treatment group and uses DID model to systematically demonstrate the relationship between the implementation of the EPT and carbon intensity (CI) and further explores the possible pollutant emissions and green innovation mediating effects. The findings show that (1) the implementation of EPT can effectively reduce CI by about 4.75%, and this conclusion still holds after considering the robustness of variable selection bias, elimination of other normal effects, policy setting time bias, and self-selection bias. (2) The implementation of EPT can reduce CI by reducing pollutant emissions and improving the level of green innovation. (3) There is obvious regional heterogeneity in the carbon reduction effect of EPT, and the implementation of EPT has a more significant effect on CI in medium-tax areas, low environmental concern areas, general cities, and eastern regions. This paper not only provides a new analytical perspective for systematically understanding the carbon emission reduction effect of EPT but also provides policy insights for promoting regional green transformation and advancing carbon peak carbon neutralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a conceptual and analytical framework of states' legitimacy-seeking to comprehensively investigate the motivation behind China's climate and environment policy. While previous research has largely overlooked political factors that underlie China's climate policy, this paper argues that these factors are crucial in understanding China's policy changes, which are evident at both domestic and international levels. By examining sources such as government documents, leaders' speeches and authoritative literature, this study contends that China's climate change initiatives are part of a broader effort to enhance domestic and international legitimacy. The issue of climate change has become highly politicised in China under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, and it serves as a crucial test of the ruling party and the state's capacity to govern effectively. As such, legitimacy-seeking is the key driver that links China's domestic measures and international commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: After almost 10 years, people wonder if green finance has been able to attain its objectives in terms of controlling climate change. Persistent global warming and climate deregulation manifested by melting glaciers, droughts and floods, are all of these determinants that have called into question the efficiency of green finance. Design/methodology/approach: Green finance is a way to support climate action through investments. It has proven that this is a viable financial instrument and that it can be used by governments and private companies to plan for the future of our planet. Findings: Based on an analysis of articles published in top international journals from 2016 to 2022, about the relationship between green technology and financial services in China, this paper aims to present an overview of green finance, its importance for the planet, its objectives and its instruments. Research limitations/implications: This study's contribution is to shed light on the aspects that may have limited its effectiveness, such as the absence of incentives, the absence of climate costs and above all the absence of finance green standards. Originality/value: The results have shown that there is still a significant gap in green finance before inclusive green growth can be achieved. Inclusive green growth. All stakeholders need to increase the level of investment in green finance. The green investment financing gap is the result of inconsistencies in sustainability and policies. Therefore, governments must intervene to impose appropriate policies and regulations to compel the financial sector to engage in sustainable development. All of these factors make the concept of green finance just an illusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change exacerbates uncertainties in water resource management, water supply, and treatment that are energy intensive and then exert great pressure on climate change mitigation; hence, interrelated and contradictory characteristics within the water-climate change (WC) nexus system are needed to be studied. The nexus thinking and coordination of WC would impact many realistic practices and assist in sustainable socioeconomic development since traditional single-target policies have sometimes been out of function. Hence, the ability to direct water production and use as well as climate change mitigation has become a hotspot recently. Furthermore, we find that there has been no complete research on reviewing the impacts of the WC nexus in different areas on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hence, this paper builds a core nexus of WC and then analyzes those effects on social and environmental aspects in many areas, including sewage treatment, energy transition, waste treatment, land management, and ocean management. This paper discusses how WC interlinkages are utilized to realize SDGs in those areas. Moreover, uncertainties derived from exogenous hydrology, climate change, and anthropogenic endogenous systems for realistic problems appeal to gradually increasing concern. Finally, implications offer valuable guidelines for integrated management of water and carbon emissions, as well as sustainable socioeconomic development in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-increasing challenges related to water security and climate mitigation underscore the pressing need for forward-thinking systems planning tools to drive urban sustainability transitions. In this study, we propose a novel city-level multi-objective planning framework that explores the nexus between carbon trading and water management, with the aim of facilitating water-efficient urban industrial restructuring. The framework integrates cap-and-trade mechanisms into a two-layered optimization model, creating an integrated approach to optimizing carbon emissions and generating economic opportunities for improving water efficiency. To illustrate the potential application of this framework, we conducted a case study focusing on Dongguan City, a water-stressed industrial metropolis in southern China. The results illustrate potential synergies between water planning strategies and carbon trading schemes, which could be harnessed to enable targeted reductions in water usage and carbon emissions. Furthermore, our findings identify the textile, apparel, and paper products manufacturing industries as primary candidates for strategic production scale reduction, emphasizing the importance of sustained support for the development of the computer and electronic manufacturing sector as a catalyst for urban sustainability transitions. By pioneering this new nexus-based perspective, our study offers valuable insights into long-term strategic planning for a low-carbon and resource-efficient urban economy. • Synergizing carbon trading and water management within a novel integrated planning framework. • Implementing resource-efficiency-driven optimization for water- and carbon-intensive manufacturing sectors. • Gaining insights into the specific roles of key manufacturing sectors in water management and carbon trading. • Introducing carbon trading systems may help in promoting water-efficient industrial restructuring. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon technology innovation (LTI) engenders environmental protection and socioeconomic development. Hence, low-carbon innovation of enterprises becomes a crucial policy arena for national development and climate mitigation strategy. LTI is now associated with enhanced reputation and competitive edge of enterprises. We constructed a framework to empirically explore the impact of simmelian ties (ST) on LTI, testing the moderating effect of stakeholder pressure in this relationship. We used a sample of 385 employees from industrial enterprises in China through a structured questionnaire. The study results show that: first, when the enterprise is in a strong ST, the top managers' awareness of environmental benefits has a significant positive impact on LTI. Second, when the enterprise is in a weak ST, top managers' awareness of environmental risk has a significant positive impact on LTI. Third, pressure of key stakeholders and pressure of secondary stakeholders positively moderate the interaction between ST and top managers' environmental awareness (TMEA) on the impact of LTI. Fourth, the moderating effect of key stakeholders' pressure was observed to be stronger than that of secondary stakeholders' pressure. Theoretically, this paper contributes to literature by developing a framework to investigate interaction between ST, TMEA and LTI under different stakeholder pressures. Based on this framework, we provide a theoretical reference for enterprises to choose the appropriate and optimal TMEA for competitive edge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) offers great opportunities for China and Mongolia to collaborate on tackling climate change. However, few studies have focused on China--Mongolia collaboration on climate change under the BRI's sustainable development framework; in particular, studies have neglected the factors and feasibility of collaboration. Focusing on China and Mongolia, this study first discusses the evolution of legislation in China and Mongolia in the context of dealing with climate change and then explores the factors that influence China--Mongolia collaboration on climate change mitigation from the perspectives of climate environmental governance and energy development at the domestic level. Subsequently, the paper analyzes the Paris Agreement to identify international factors that can influence climate change cooperation between the two countries. Finally, based on the results of this analysis, this paper identifies geopolitical relations, the energy supply, technology and investment, and the demand for a transition to sustainable development as the main driving forces for China and Mongolia to collaborate on climate change mitigation under the BRI. Finally, the paper concludes that collaboration between the two countries is highly feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, CMIP6 and single model initial‐condition large ensemble (SMILE) simulations were applied to reveal possible changes in the spatial coverage (RSC) of summer extreme precipitation (≥99th percentile) in China. Four different approaches were applied to provide a comprehensive assessment of RSC changes. Results indicate that the trend of RSC in summer for the period 1961–2020 in China is underestimated by raw simulations of CMIP6 multi‐model ensembles. Further analyses suggest that the confidence in model simulations reflecting the observed change can be improved based on the two observation constraint approaches and SMILE‐based approach. In addition, the reliability of the spatial distribution can also be improved. Projection results indicate that the RSC of summer extreme precipitation increases consistently with the increment of global warming across the different approaches. Among them, the results based on observational constraints and the SMILE‐based approach show enhanced reliability and present larger RSC changes than by directly using CMIP6 ensembles. In conclusion, extreme precipitation in summer is expected to become more widespread in China as the level of global warming increases. Plain Language Summary: Extreme precipitation causes severe impacts on agriculture, economy, and human health. However, it is projected by models to change in China but with low consistency. Thus, this paper provides an assessment of the projected characteristics of the ratio of spatial coverage (RSC) for extreme precipitation in China combined with multiple evidence and approaches. CMIP6 and single model initial‐condition large ensemble (SMILE) simulations are applied. Four approaches based on the statistics principle and physical interpretability are conducted to comprehensively assess change in RSC. Results reveal that extreme precipitation will become more widespread in China. Among them, results based on observation constraint approaches and SMILE‐based approach, which show enhanced accuracy and reliability, present larger RSC than directly using CMIP6 ensembles. It indicates that extreme precipitation will be more widespread in China combined with multiple evidence and methods. This study provides some scientific foundation for climate mitigation and adaptation. Key Points: Observed trend in RSC in China increased significantly in summer for the period 1961–2020 but is underestimated by CMIP6 multi‐model ensemblesConfidence is improved based on observation constraint and SMILE‐based approaches to raw model simulationsExtreme precipitation in summer will become more widespread, as supported by multiple evidence lines and approaches [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the acceleration of the global response to climate change, increasing attention has been paid to the risks associated with climate change mitigation, such as regulation uncertainties and market interactions. As the country with the greatest CO2 emissions globally, China has launched a national carbon market to speed up its climate mitigation. While the national carbon market provides a platform for regional coalitions to reduce emissions, its incomplete sectoral coverage might allow for the strategic behavior of industries in different regions and ultimately affect the efficiency of the carbon market. This paper explores how the sectoral expansion of the national carbon market affects regional emission reductions in China when emissions trading sectors engage in strategic behavior in the output market. From the sectoral perspective, our numerical results show that the strategic effect in the electricity and steel sectors is more significant than in other sectors. From a regional perspective, the western regions of China, which are mostly permit sale regions, have less strategic power than the eastern regions in the output and carbon markets. Finally, this paper suggests that measures, such as the dynamic adjustment of emission allowance allocation, should be considered by policy makers to prevent the widening of regional economic disparities when extending the sectoral coverage of the carbon market in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas mediate climate transformations and generate new forms of climate urbanism. Looking at climate action in the twelve fastest-growing cities in China with under one million people, this paper proposes a perspective on urban climate politics 'from elsewhere' that foregrounds the potential role of smaller urban areas in mediating climate transformations. The analysis reveals three climate action strategies that reflect practical, institutional, and personal spheres of climate transformations. Planning action in the personal sphere provides opportunities for urban transformations. A perspective 'from elsewhere' calls for greater attention to planning for diverse change strategies for climate transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Advances in Atmospheric Sciences is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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 last decade witnessed a rapid rise in shared mobility in China. However, there is lack of understanding how the shared mobility market developed, how shared mobility reshapes daily travel patterns, and what shared mobility contributes, if at all, to environmental goals, and in particular climate change mitigation. Here, we systematically review the state of shared mobility in China, scoping 2541 English paper and 12,140 Chinese research papers. We differentiate between ride hailing, car sharing, and bike sharing and analyze the factors shaping shared mobility patterns from the four perspectives of consumers, service providers, the government, and the environment. We also elaborate on governance measures guiding shared mobility and investigate the impact of future shared mobility on a potential low-carbon transportation system transition, highlighting the key role of bike sharing and shared pooled mobility. We show that COVID-19 reduced demand for car hailing, but rendered bike sharing more popular. This work provides a systematic guidance for the future development of shared mobility, and its possibility to contribute to climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of export quality in climate action goal of the sustainable development goals in emerging Asian countries. For this purpose, the empirical model that observes the impact of real GDP, energy use and export quality index on carbon emissions is constructed and is analyzed by ARDL bounds testing approach for the period from 1970 to 2014. We also include the square of real GDP as independent variable to observe the existence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis which implies the parabolic relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. The findings show that increase in export quality leads to a fall in CO2 emissions for China and India. In contrast, the effect of increasing export quality increases CO2 emissions in Thailand and the Philippines. Lastly, our asymmetric causality results show that the positive shocks of export quality causes positive shocks of CO2 emissions in Thailand and Indonesia. Furthermore, we found that positive export quality shocks cause negative CO2 emissions shocks in India while negative export quality shocks cause positive CO2 emissions shocks in China. We also confirm the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in China and Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies on the short-term local benefits of carbon mitigation technologies on air quality improvement and health focus on specific technologies such as biofuels or carbon sequestration technologies, while ignoring the overall role of the growing scale of low-carbon technologies. Based on STIRPAT model and EKC hypothesis, this paper takes 30 provinces in China from 2004 to 2016 as research samples. We builded the panel double fixed effect model to empirical analysis of climate change on carbon mitigation tech-innovation suppressing the influence of haze pollution, on this basis, the mediating effect model was used to explore the mediation function of industrial structure and energy structure. Meanwhile, we drawed on the existing studies on air quality and health benefits, and quantify the co-benefits of carbon mitigation tech-innovation on health through the equivalent substitution formula. It shows that a 1% increase in the number of low-carbon patent applications can reduce haze pollution by 0.066%. According to this estimate, to 2029, China's carbon mitigation tech-innovation could reduce PM2.5 concentration to 15 μg/m3 preventing 5.597 million premature deaths. Moreover, carbon mitigation tech-innovation can also indirectly inhibit haze pollution by triggering more systematic economic structure changes such as energy and industrial structure. Additionally, we found that the role of gray tech-innovation (GT) related to improving the efficiency of fossil energy is stronger than that of clean technology (CT) related to the use of renewable energy. This suggests that for a large economy such as China, where coal is still the dominant source of energy consumption, the short-term local benefits of improving air quality and health through the use of gray tech-innovation to improve energy and industrial structure are still important to balance the cost of carbon mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Justice and responsibility are central notions shaping the international climate negotiations. However, countries have different perspectives on how to translate these concepts into solutions for climate change. In this process, actors such as the European Union (EU) play a central role, by trying to persuade other large greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters to take on their (historical) responsibilities and by supporting developing countries. At the same time, China and India have become central actors in international climate negotiations. Due to their rapid economic growth and rising GHG emissions, their climate action is crucial for achieving global goals, while their historical emissions are very different from those of Western countries. To shed light on the EU's perspective on climate justice, and the particular role of China and India therein, this article analyses Members of European Parliament's (MEPs) narratives in plenary debates on foreign climate policy between 1996 and 2019. MEPs' views contribute to shaping the EU's position on the topic, but also provide useful insights into the political dynamics of the debate. The paper finds that climate justice is mentioned in less than half of the MEPs' speeches, but that its salience increased over time and became more diverse in terms of different dimensions of climate justice. We also uncover that MEPs' positions on China and India evolved with the rise in their emissions, becoming increasingly critical over time. However, there is a significant variance amongst political groups' positions, between those on the right and the left end of the political spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we empirically evaluate the effect of climate change on agricultural technical efficiency, considering the moderating effect of mitigation efforts based on emission reduction in China. In particular, we directly measure the intensity of mitigation efforts using the climate change mitigation index. We then apply the two-stage double bootstrap DEA method to build up the empirical model, effectively avoiding biased estimation using the traditional two-stage DEA method. Our results show that the intensity of mitigation measures moderates the impacts of global warming on efficiency and mild mitigation measures are better than drastic ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Loess Plateau is an ecologically fragile area in China; furthermore, loess landslides are typical forms of geological disasters, which severely limit the sustainable development of the local societies and the economy. Studying the automatic detection of landslides can facilitate disaster prevention and mitigation in the Loess Plateau, and help realize the climate action goal (SDG 13) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper takes typical loess areas in China as the research object, and establishes a historical loess landslide sample database based on Google Earth (GEE) image data, with a total of 1451 loess landslides. The automatic detection of loess landslides is implemented by improving the You Only Look Once X (YOLOX) algorithm. The results show that the average accuracy of landslide detection in this method is 95.43%, and the accuracy rate is 96.32%, which effectively combines the earth's big data to realize the automatic detection of loess landslides. The research results provide technical support for the promotion of disaster prevention and mitigation in China's loess regions, the realization of sustainable development goals, and the improvement of natural disaster prevention–resistance–reduction systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employment creation and climate change mitigation are core tasks for achieving sustainable development goals. Whether or not carbon mitigation policy facilitate employment deserves deep exploration. Through the construction of multi-regional dynamic computable general equilibrium model (CGE) with more scientific energy & environment block, this paper first evaluates regional employment effects of the national emission trading scheme (ETS) in China. Furthermore, we explore the Okun's law of the national ETS based on the mediating effect model. The results show that whether in carbon-intensive industries (CIIs) or non-carbon-intensive industries (NCIIs), employment effects of the national ETS are differentiated across regions. Specifically, the national ETS generally promotes CIIs' employment in Southern, Eastern, Middle Yangtze River and Southwest regions, and has negative effects on CIIs' employment in other regions. Meanwhile, the national ETS brings employment creation to NCIIs of Southern region, while there are opposite results in NCIIs of Northeast region and mixed results in NCIIs of other regions. Moreover, the Okun's law of the national ETS holds in CIIs of each region, but it not fits the data for NCIIs. Therefore, it is important for the Chinese government to consider the differentiated employment effects in different regions carefully rather than adopt one-size-fit-all solution when constructing the national carbon market. [Display omitted] • Multi-regional dynamic CGE model is constructed for investigate. • The carbon emission accounting method in this paper is more scientific. • This paper focuses on employment effects of the national ETS at regional level. • Almost all regions would unavoidably witness more or less employment losses. • The Okun's law of the national ETS does not always hold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities play a major role in decoupling economic growth from carbon emission for their significant role in climate change mitigation from national level. This paper selects Beijing (economic center and leader of emission reduction in China) as a case to examine the decoupling process during the period 2000–2015 through a sectoral decomposition analysis. This paper proposes the decoupling of carbon emission from economic growth or sectoral output by defining the Tapio decoupling elasticity, and combined the decoupling elasticity with decomposition technique such as Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index approach. The results indicate that agriculture and industrial sectors presented strong decoupling state, and weak decoupling is detected in construction and other industrial sectors. Meanwhile, transport sector is in expansive negative decoupling while trade industry shows expansive coupling during the study period. Per-capita gross domestic product, industrial structure, and energy intensity are the most significant effects influencing the decoupling process. Agriculture and industry are conducive to decoupling of carbon emissions from economic output, while transport and trade are detrimental to the realization of strong decoupling target between 2000 and 2015. However, construction and other industrial sectors exerted relatively little minor impact on the whole decoupling process. Improving and promoting energy-saving technologies in transport sector and trade sector should be the key strategy adjustments for Beijing to reduce carbon emissions in the future. The study aims to provide effective policy adjustments for policy makers to accelerate the decoupling process in Beijing, which, furthermore, can lay a theoretical foundation for other cities to develop carbon emission mitigation polices more efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: The topography and climate background determine that the hazard happens periodically, and these factors are fundamental for the weak vulnerability in the Sedongpu basin; The dynamic glacier simulations with the Elmer/Ice model showed that the glacier surface velocity can reach 19 cm/d on the Dongpu glacier; Heavy rain and an earthquake were triggering factors of the ice avalanche that led to the glacial debris flow. In this paper, the glacial debris flow blockage event, on 17 October 2018, in the Sedongpu basin of the Yarlung Zangbo River is taken as an example to analyse the occurrence and development of glacier hazards in this region. Multi-sources including remote sensing products, DEM, earthquake records and meteorological data were used to analyse the characteristics and mechanism of glacier hazards. The Elmer/Ice dynamic model was chosen to simulate the glacial surface velocity. It was found that topography and climate background determine that the hazard happens periodically. Based on the meteorological records of the Linzhi station, the warming rate was greater than 0.40 °C/10a during the period 1960–2017. The short-term heavy rainfall with daily values of 9.3 mm before the blockage event was also regarded as a factor. Both heavy rain and earthquake were triggering factors of the ice avalanche that led to the glacial debris flow. The glacier surface velocity of the Dongpu glacier simulated by Elmer/Ice model can reach 19 cm/d. This study has extensive applicability significance in glacier hazard mitigation under a changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international community is paying more and more attention to the role of forests in CO2 absorption. This study aims the broad leaved forest carbon sinks in China, on the basis of research on coniferous forest carbon sinks in 1981 and 2014, the paper analyses the changes in broad leaved forest carbon sinks and the relations between the changes and the forest economics and management from 1981 to 2015 using the forest stock volume conversion method. The paper selects the common indexes of forest economics and management such as investment in forestry-fixed assets in silviculture and afforestation, the annual gross domestic product (GDP) values for the forestry sector, and management level improvement. The paper first of all establishes carbon sink estimates, and then analyses recent carbon sink trends of the dominant species of broad leaved forest which is based on six times inventories of China's forest resources. The inventory data cover the four dominant broad-leaved species which are named as Oak, Betula, Populus, and others, such as Eucalyptus, Camphor, and Linden. The paper shows that a significant effect has been made by the forest carbon sinks of these species and investment in forestry-fixed assets in silviculture and afforestation, management level improvement etc. though with a lag of 4–7 years, and there raises a lot of discussions of various problems regarding forest carbon sinks and forest management and economic development. This study has important implications for forest resource management and climate change mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mitigation of climate change requires that agricultural development would proceed in accordance with green and sustainable practices. This implies that economic performance should be improved while minimizing the impact on the environment. One way to assess the underlying costs of sustainable agricultural development, and to model the relationship between the environment and the economy in general, is to use the carbon shadow price (CSP). In this paper, we utilize a by-production model within a non-parametric framework to estimate the agricultural CSP from 1997 to 2020 in 31 provinces of China. The patterns of the agricultural CSP are unveiled through kernel density analysis and convergence tests. Additionally, this paper constructs a comprehensive agricultural informatization indicator using the entropy method. We then empirically investigate its influence on agricultural CSP. The results reveal that China's agricultural CSP has demonstrated consistent growth over the past two decades which suggests serious improvement in environmental performance. Furthermore, the CSP show cross-province variation, albeit with conditional β convergence. Our empirical findings indicate that agricultural information technology contributes to an increase in CSP, thereby indicating its positive role on the green growth of agriculture in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation and adaptation are common global challenges, and how to accelerate carbon neutrality and green recovery is a major global issue. Market-oriented emission reduction policy has been widely concerned for its unique advantages, but most of the current market-oriented emission reduction policies are based on the consideration of end-of-pipe governance and lack of effective control of source reduction. Energy quota trading (EQT) is an innovation of an energy-saving and emission reduction system, which is based on the idea of source reduction. However, it is unknown about the evaluation of the effect of the EQT policy from the macro perspective. Based on the related statistical data of energy consumption, combined with the ARIMA model, STIRPAT model, and the synthetic control method (SCM), this paper analyzes the energy consumption distribution in China from 2001 to 2020 and comprehensively evaluates the effect of EQT in the pilots. The results show that: (1) The overall energy consumption in China shows a steady upward trend, and its distribution is unbalanced. (2) In absolute perspective, EQT can realize the "double control" of the total amount and intensity in energy saving and emission reduction, and the intensity control effect is better than the total amount control effect. (3) In relative perspective, EQT can enhance the potential of energy saving and emission reduction in the pilots, in which it needs to take the regional characteristics into account. The policy effect is still significant when eliminating some unobservable factors, which indicate that the policy is effective and can be replicated nationwide. The study comprehensively evaluates the effect of ETS from multiple perspectives, which can effectively avoid the misjudgment of the policy effectiveness caused by the single dimension evaluation, while it can also be used as a reference for the government to perfect the policies of energy management system and emission control system. Furthermore, the development of EQT is an important catalyst for policymakers to coordinate policies to accelerate the achievement of carbon-neutral targets and a more resilient low-carbon development model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests and the dynamic changes play decisive roles in soil erosion prevention, biodiversity conservation and climate warming mitigation, and are crucial for China to achieve carbon neutrality because of the ability for carbon uptake. China's forests experienced a substantial change over the past century, primarily since the forest conservation and restoration programs were implemented. In this paper, the progress of China's forest change and the similarities and differences of the spatio-temporal patterns from multi-dimension coupling with ground surveys and satellite observations were reviewed comprehensively, and the drivers of forest change were discussed. Our review reported that: 1) China's forests experienced an extensive forest gain/restoration in vegetation greenness, forest cover, and aboveground biomass since the 1970s. 2) Changes in various forest parameters suggested distinctive spatiotemporal patterns in China. Consistent hotspots of forest gain clustered in the Loess Plateau and the southwestern China from most studies, while controversial conclusions about forest loss/degradation were found in the spatial distribution. 3) The geographic discrepancy of forest changes may be related to climate change, human activities, and forest disturbances. Variations in forest dynamics are prerequisites to exploring the effects of natural conditions and forestry policies on forest cover, and strengthening understanding of the carbon cycle. These findings can provide valuable insights for various ecological services in further studies and a scientific basis for forest management and policy-making in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and the eu are important economies and among the greatest green-house gas emitters in the world. Therefore, strengthening cooperation between the eu and China in the renewable field is vital to prevent the earth from getting any warmer. However, the renewable field which include energy equipment, products manufacturing, and operating systems, is a huge market that is worth billions of dollars. Because of their different economic interest, a trade war (anti-dumping and countervailing investigation) broke out between China and eu in the pv industry which includes solar panels, solar glass and solar-grade polysilicon. Could there be cooperation between China and eu Member States in the photovoltaic fields instead of conflict? This paper illustrates the development of pv solar energy and the conflict between eu and China, discusses the main support policies in both the eu and China and their influence on cooperation and conflict, and compares the differences in strengths and weaknesses between the eu and China. This paper draws the conclusion that cooperation between China and the eu in the pv industry could be achieved, and industrial policies should be adjusted in order to avoid or alleviate the conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon footprint (CF) research has attained tremendous popularity for improving the climate environment purposes. In particular, current energy use has been identified as the main cause of climate change. CF plays an irreplaceable role in managing energy use, reducing gas emissions, and improving climate change. The objective of this study was to review studies that have developed CF and to perform a bibliometric analysis using two key terms: "climate change" and "energy use". From bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace and VOSviewer, it was possible to establish a knowledge map of cooperative network structure and research evolution. We are aiming to reveal the main logical chain of CF research leading to climate change, to make up for the lack of current literature, and provide research inspiration for researchers. The research findings mainly focus on four aspects. First, the relevant research began in 2008 and is in a state of continuous rise. Second, due to the law of research development and the prominence of practical problems, related research has experienced a stage from conceptual methods to specific problems. Third, China and the USA assume an important role in which international cooperation is the overall trend. Fourth, related research can be divided into CF algorithm research, ecological environment management research, and specific cross-industry fields. In addition, possible opportunities for change in related research are explored. It is also suggested that the integration of CF with other footprints, when energy use and environmental change are fully considered, may become an important future research trend by providing a more comprehensive environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a major carbon emitter in China, the emission mitigation in industrial sector performs great significance for China to achieve its emission reduction targets. Using the provincial panel data during 2000–2016 of China's industrial sector, this paper first used a gravity model to study the spatial distribution and center of gravity of industrial CO2 emissions. Then, an integrated decomposition approach based on Shephard distance functions was adopted to study the driving factors of industrial carbon intensity. Results indicate that during 2000–2016, industrial CO2 emissions center of gravity gradually moved to the west. China's industrial carbon intensity achieved considerable decline, with the annual change rate of 8.27%. The energy intensity decline, technology progresses of both production and energy saving were the most important factors facilitating carbon intensity decline. However, energy structure adjustment exerted positive effects in carbon intensity increase, although its effects were minor. Industrial carbon intensity witnessed decrease in almost all provinces except Xinjiang. The effects resulted from various factors were also different across provinces. Finally, suggestions were proposed to further decrease industrial carbon intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current nationally determined contributions, pledged by the countries under the Paris Agreement, are far from limiting climate change to below 2 ∘C temperature increase by the end of the century. The necessary ratcheting up of climate policy is projected to come with a wide array of additional benefits, in particular a reduction of today's 4.5 million annual premature deaths due to poor air quality. This paper therefore addresses the question how climate policy and air pollution–related health impacts interplay until 2050 by developing a comprehensive global modeling framework along the cause and effect chain of air pollution–induced social costs. We find that ratcheting up climate policy to a 2 ∘ compliant pathway results in welfare benefits through reduced air pollution that are larger than mitigation costs, even with avoided climate change damages neglected. The regional analysis demonstrates that the 2 ∘C pathway is therefore, from a social cost perspective, a "no-regret option" in the global aggregate, but in particular for China and India due to high air quality benefits, and also for developed regions due to net negative mitigation costs. Energy and resource exporting regions, on the other hand, face higher mitigation cost than benefits. Our analysis further shows that the result of higher health benefits than mitigation costs is robust across various air pollution control scenarios. However, although climate mitigation results in substantial air pollution emission reductions overall, we find significant remaining emissions in the transport and industry sectors even in a 2 ∘C world. We therefore call for further research in how to optimally exploit climate policy and air pollution control, deriving climate change mitigation pathways that maximize co-benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mitigation of climate change demands a transition to low-carbon power generation systems. To identify effective transition strategies and accelerate the transition process, decision-makers require comprehensive information that can best be obtained through an evaluation of transition trajectories. However, little work has been done to develop comprehensive analysis systems that can evaluate this process. This study presents an indicator system to evaluate power system transitions that include 13 indicators capturing the technical, economic, environmental and policy dimensions. To test its efficacy, the dynamic target framework is applied to the power system transition in China, and comparisons are drawn against global market leaders such as Germany, the USA and Japan. This paper finds that the framework enables a more rigorous comparative analysis of power system transitions between countries than is currently offered by the application of piecemeal indicators. This framework complements contextually rich qualitative case studies. Empirical analysis shows that China's transition trajectory has been convoluted because of its more severe environmental restrictions and policy guidance. Cooperation in the intelligent transition of the global power system can promote China's power system transition. This approach should foster both the mitigation of climate change and adaptation to China's resource constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, the power industry contributes significantly to carbon emissions, reducing carbon emissions in this industry is conducive to China's adaptation and mitigation of climate change. Researches on green and low-carbon power have attracted increasing attention. In this paper, we analyze and compare the carbon emissions from thermal power sector in 30 Chinese provinces, divided into three main regions. Based on the panel data over the period 2002–2016, we use a slacks-based measurement (SBM) model to measure the carbon emission efficiency of China's power sector. The results show that the carbon emission efficiency of the system is relatively low, with marked differences among regions. Based on the Moran's I, we further found spatial heterogeneity in carbon emission efficiency of provincial power sector. Policies for adaptation and mitigation of climate change should have regional differences. Interregional collaboration also plays a key role in adapting to and mitigating climate change. For China, it is an important issue to develop clean coal-fired power generation and vigorously develop renewable energy. From a global perspective, energy transformation needs to be continuously promoted. Promoting low-carbon transformation of global energy system requires deep technical cooperation and synergy. Global mitigation strategy should focus on the orientation of structural reform and constantly optimize the energy structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses a potential risk to coastal infrastructure, thus threatening the economics or even the safety of human beings. Thus, a better understanding of the attitude of port organizations toward climate adaptation and mitigation is essential. This paper addresses this research gap by investigating 18 port organizations in China. The questions include the impediments and the impact of context, systems, and other factors on the implementation of adaptation strategies. The results indicate that port organizations are generally aware of climate change impacts and agree that some further steps are needed. However, policy support serves as a key factor in implementing adaptation plans. Apart from offering important insight on the attitude of port organizations, the study also serves as a platform for further research on climate adaptation planning in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural gas plays an important role in the mitigation of climate change, yet its development is constrained by the current natural gas pricing mechanism in China. In the context of the natural gas pricing reform, this paper analyzes the potential effects on price level and total output. Through the input-output model, some conclusions are drawn as follows: (1) The gas pricing reform has relatively great impact on the products' price of the sectors that have large gas consumption, such as industrial sectors and some service sectors, and on the total output of the gas production and supply sectors and the petroleum and natural gas extraction sectors, whereas the reform has relatively small impact on other industries; (2) effects of gas pricing reform on urban and rural residents are dissymmetrical, with larger effects on urban residents and (3) the reform has relatively small impacts on both various price indices and total output levels; thus, the government can realize the promotion of gas pricing reform nationwide at a cost of relatively small increase in general price level and little lose of total output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes whether using carbon pricing as the major mitigation policy instrument is compatible with the implementation of the 'common but differentiated responsibility' principle in a global climate agreement. We focus more specifically on China, a key player in climate negotiations. This is done by adopting the Imaclim-R model to assess the economic effect of carbon pricing on the Chinese economy in different climate architectures which, despite aiming at the same stabilization target, differ in terms of the temporal profile of emission reductions and the regional distribution of efforts (different quota allocation schemes). Model outcomes prove that neither temporal nor regional flexibilities provides a satisfactory answer since the Chinese economy remains significantly hurt at certain time periods. This suggests the recourse to complementary measures to carbon pricing in order to help smoothing the necessary shift toward a low-carbon society. This means in particular that, to build a climate policy architecture that could be compatible with the 'common but differentiated responsibility' principle, climate negotiations must go beyond global top-down systems relying on cap-and-trade to include bottom-up measures likely to complement the carbon price and make carbon mitigation acceptable in countries like China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1982, China's blue carbon management policies have made significant contributions to blue carbon's development. Blue carbon is carbon captured and stored by marine ecosystems and it plays an important role in addressing climate change. Analyzing the evolution of blue carbon management policy is necessary to understand its potential to contribute to climate action, and to improve its management and maximize its effectiveness. This paper considers these issues in China. It used content analysis and ROSTCM6 software to empirically analyze 82 blue carbon management policy documents from China. The evolution of relevant policies and their performance is as follows: First, policy focus has gradually shifted from protecting blue carbon ecosystems to increasing blue carbon stocks; second, policy participants became increasingly diversified; and third, the policy approach has changed from simple protection to comprehensive, integrated land use – marine system management. Although the Chinese government has made progress in blue carbon management policies, it still faces many challenges including blue carbon ecosystem protection; legal status; trading mechanisms; and international cooperation. The development of future blue carbon management policy should focus on optimizing the land use structure of coastal zones, on promoting environmental legislation highlighting blue carbon issues, on supporting the establishment of blue carbon trading mechanisms, and on strengthening its international cooperation in this arena. China's blue carbon management approaches shows that relevant policies contribute greatly to addressing climate change and sustainable development. This provides new theoretical support to promote future development of blue carbon management policies. Establishing a blue carbon trading mechanism provides economic incentives for its management. Blue carbon's property rights, accounting standards, and trading entities need to be further clarified. A detailed legal definition of blue carbon is needed to ensure that appropriate penalties are imposed for the destruction of blue carbon ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financing climate change mitigation and adaptation in Asia is critical for its population and economies but also for those of the world. This editorial provides a commentary and overview of ten articles within this special issue of Climate Policy on 'Green Finance in Asia'. Contributions are diverse in terms of focus and methods. Most of the articles focus on managing transition risk with six of the articles having an energy focus; the dominant themes are the risk of stranded coal assets in China; the role of export finance by China and Japan for fossil fuel-fired power generation assets within Asia; and investment in renewable power generation and the policies to support such investment. The remaining four articles explore various policies in specific country contexts: the effects of green bond policies in China; the greening of monetary policy in China; the governance of sustainable finance in Indonesia; and policies to support investment and finance of off-grid electricity access in Bangladesh. Most of the ten contributions come from researchers in developed countries and principally from non-Asian countries, suggesting there is a need to develop green finance research capability and capacity across Asia. Despite being withing scope of the special issue, this collection does not contain papers on physical risk or adaptation finance. We highlight these as important gaps and priorities for future research. Key policy insights This editorial provides a commentary and overview of ten articles within this special issue of Climate Policy on 'Green Finance in Asia'. Most of the ten contributions come from researchers in developed countries and principally from non-Asian countries. There is a need to develop green finance research capability and capacity across Asia. Most contributions were focussed on transition risk, with limited or no focus on physical risk and adaptation finance. This likely reflects the multiple resource and expertise challenges faced when conducting physical risks assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution control policies in China have been experiencing profound changes, highlighting a strategic transformation from total pollutant emission control to air quality improvement, along with the shifting targets starting from acid rain and NO x emissions to PM 2.5 pollution, and then the emerging O 3 challenges. The marvelous achievements have been made with the dramatic decrease of SO 2 emission and fundamental improvement of PM 2.5 concentration. Despite these achievements, China has proposed Beautiful China target through 2035 and the goal of 2030 carbon peak and 2060 carbon neutrality, which impose stricter requirements on air quality and synergistic mitigation with Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Against this background, an integrated multi-objective and multi-benefit roadmap is required to provide decision support for China's long-term air quality improvement strategy. This paper systematically reviews the technical system for developing the air quality improvement roadmap, which was integrated from the research output of China's National Key R&D Program for Research on Atmospheric Pollution Factors and Control Technologies (hereafter Special NKP), covering mid- and long-term air quality target setting techniques, quantitative analysis techniques for emission reduction targets corresponding to air quality targets, and pathway optimization techniques for realizing reduction targets. The experience and lessons derived from the reviews have implications for the reformation of China's air quality improvement roadmap in facing challenges of synergistic mitigation of PM 2.5 and O 3 , and the coupling with climate change mitigation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing interest has recently been placed on the potential of nature-based solutions to help mitigate climate change, reflecting the importance of natural ecosystems as sources and sinks for greenhouse gases. Forests are of the hot debate – that sequester and also emit carbon dioxide (CO2). In this paper, we estimate the forest carbon sequestration potential for China. We show that, as the government plans, by 2020, the size of China's forest carbon stock will reach 12.87 billion tons, among which 5.73 billion tons will be from afforestation and reforestation (A/R). From the up-to-date data on AR activities (by 2018), we find that only 80% of the target sinks have been met. Scenario analysis shows that the carbon sequestered by the forests in 2020 is equivalent to 13%-17% of the industrial CO2 emission that year, with 6%-8% by A/R, 4%-6% by forest-management, 3%-4% by reduced-deforestation-and-forest-degradation, and 1% by wood-product-sink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central to global agreement on carbon emissions are strategic interactions amongst regions over abatement policy and the benefits to be shared. These are re-examined in this paper, in which benefits from mitigation stem from a meta-analysis that links carbon concentration with region-specific measures of economic welfare. Implementation costs are then drawn from a highly disaggregated model of global economic performance. Multiplayer games are then constructed, the results from which are sensitive to embodied temperature scenarios and discount rates but robustly reveal that the U.S. and China would be net gainers from unilateral implementation in net present value terms. The dominant strategy for all other countries is to free ride. Net gains to the three large economies are bolstered by universal adoption, which could be induced by affordable side payments. Yet the downside is that net gains to all regions are negative over two decades, rendering commitment to abatement politically difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate changes have led to ocean acidification, ice and snow melting, a continuous rise in temperature, and an increasing frequency of extreme weather events, with profound impacts on the social economic system. With the aggravation from climate changes, even the industrial fields with a relatively strong resistance to climatic changes have also suffered serious losses. At present, the vulnerability of the industrial field is growing, and the absolute economic losses are increasing. The quantitative evaluation of these industrial economic losses is therefore an important basis for formulating policies to tackle global climate change, and analyzing the current research progress can provide ideas and methods for the effective evaluation of the industrial economy. Therefore, in this paper, we summarized both the positive and negative effects of climate changes on the industrial fields and found that the influences of climatic changes on different industrial sectors are slightly variable. For example, while the mining industry, so far, has positively responded to the changing climate, severe weather events such as storms, drought, and rain could severely impede the normal production and business operation activities of the mining industry in the future. The manufacturing industry mostly involves indoor jobs, which are relatively resistant to extreme weather events, and some industries have complex response mechanisms. In terms of the construction industry, its losses are mainly indirect through increased electricity costs. The production and supply industries for electricity, heat, and water would suffer transmission supply losses in extreme weather events; and as the largest carbon emission industries, the costs of emission reduction would affect the economic growth of this sector in the short term. Overall, the industrial sectors pay relatively high costs for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and therefore, the quantitative evaluation of industrial economic losses through models is crucial for both the development of reasonable policies and ensuring a smooth and consistent growth of the industrial economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal is the primary source of China's carbon emissions due to the energy structure and its resource endowment. This reality creates enormous pressure and impetus for low-carbon pathways of coal production and consumption. Based on a literature review on carbon emissions accounting methods, this paper builds a source-driven CO2 emissions accounting model for the coal development sector using the emissions factor method. Scenario analysis is employed to predict future carbon emission equivalents and to indicate possible implications for climate change mitigation in this sector. Carbon emissions from coal development are mainly derived from coal mine gas emissions, which yield 62% of the sector's total carbon emissions, followed by energy consumption. The recent decline in coal mining-driven CO2 emissions is mainly due to the strict deployment of coal mine gas and the changing structure of coal mines. The results from the scenarios suggest that the carbon emissions reduction potential will largely be determined by technology innovation in the coal mine gas industry. Policy implications for further addressing carbon emissions from the supply side of the coal industry include improvements in energy efficiency and coal mine gas extraction and utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to study the decoupling status and mitigation potential of CO2 emissions from China's transport sector over the period 1991–2015. Firstly, this paper utilizes the Log-Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) technique to identify influencing factors, which govern CO2 emissions from China's transport sector. Over the study period, the CO2 coefficient effect (Δ C c f t ) was the main factor for decreasing CO2 emissions. However, the economic growth effect (Δ C g t ) was the main factor for increasing CO2 emissions. Then, the decoupling indicator is also constructed based on the above influencing factors, which can be utilized to reflect the dependence degree of economic development on CO2 emissions from China's transport sector. During 1991–2015, the CO2 emissions from China's transport sector presented expansive coupling (EC) with economic development. Weak decoupling (WD) only appeared in the sub-period 1991–1995. The CO 2 emissions only presented 3 decoupling grades in all sub-period and the period 1991–2015: Ⅱ, Ⅲ, and Ⅳ. Furthermore, the above influencing factors are also used to establish a theoretical mitigation model, which is used to reflect the mitigation potential of CO2 emissions from China's transport sector. Finally, the occurrence of CO2 mitigation only appeared in 3 sub-periods: 1991–1995, 2005–2010, and 2010–2015. • The LMDI technique is used to identify influencing factors. • The decoupling indicator is constructed based on the influencing factors. • The influencing factors are used to establish a theoretical mitigation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's carbon emission trading policy plays a crucial role in achieving both its "3060" dual carbon objectives and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13) on climate action. The policy's effectiveness in reducing pollution and mitigating carbon emissions holds significant importance. This paper investigated whether China's carbon emission trading policy affects pollution reduction (PM 2.5 and SO 2) and carbon mitigation (CO 2) in pilot regions, using panel data from 30 provinces and municipalities in China from 2005 to 2019 and employing a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model. Furthermore, it analyzed the heterogeneity of carbon market mechanisms and regional variations. Finally, it examined the governance pathways for pollution reduction and carbon mitigation from a holistic perspective. The results indicate that: (1) China's carbon emission trading policy has reduced CO 2 emissions by 18% and SO 2 emissions by 36% in pilot areas, with an immediate impact on the "carbon mitigation" effect, while the "pollution reduction" effect exhibits a time lag. (2) Higher carbon trading prices lead to stronger "carbon mitigation" effect, and larger carbon market scales are associated with greater "pollution reduction" effects on PM 2.5. Governance effects on pollution reduction and carbon mitigation vary among pilot regions: Carbon markets of Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin show significant governance effects in both "pollution reduction" and "carbon mitigation", whereas Guangdong's carbon market exhibits only a "pollution reduction" effect, and Hubei's carbon market demonstrates only a "carbon mitigation" effect. (3) Currently, China's carbon emission trading policy achieves pollution reduction and carbon mitigation through "process management" and "end-of-pipe treatment". This study could provide empirical insights and policy implications for pollution reduction and carbon mitigation, as well as for the development of China's carbon emission trading market. • China's carbon emission trading (CET) policy promotes pollution reduction and carbon mitigation. • Higher carbon trading prices lead to stronger "carbon mitigation" effect. • Larger carbon market scales bring greater "pollution reduction" effects on PM 2.5. • Regional heterogeneity exists on pollution reduction and carbon mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of China is increasingly pivotal in climate change mitigation, and the formulation of energy conservation and emission reduction policies requires city-level information. The effectiveness of national policy implementation is contingent upon the support and involvement of local governments. Accurate data on final energy consumption is vital to formulate and implement city-level energy transitions and energy conservation and emission reduction policies. However, there is a dearth of data sources pertaining to China's city-level final energy consumption. To address these gaps, we developed computational modeling techniques along with top-down and downscaling methods to estimate China's city-level final energy consumption. In this way, we compiled a final energy consumption inventory for 331 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2021, covering seven economic sectors, 30 fossil fuels, and four clean power sources. Moreover, we discussed the validity of the estimation results from multiple perspectives to enhance estimation accuracy. This dataset can be utilized for analysis in various cutting-edge research fields such as energy transition dynamics, transition risk management strategies, and policy formulation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]