WORKING GUIDANCE FOR CARBON DIOXIDE PEAKING AND CARBON NEUTRALITY IN FULL AND FAITHFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHY

WORKING GUIDANCE FOR CARBON DIOXIDE PEAKING AND CARBON NEUTRALITY IN FULL AND FAITHFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHY

(September 22, 2021)

To peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon neutrality is a major strategic decision taken by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in light of both domestic and international imperatives. This is the natural choice for China to address acute resource and environmental constraints and achieve sustained development of the Chinese nation, and constitutes China's solemn commitment to building a shared future for mankind. In full and faithful implementation of the new development philosophy, the work on carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality should be guided by the following:

I. GENERAL GUIDANCE
1．Guiding Principles
We must follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the guiding principles from the 19th CPC National Congress and the second through fifth plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee, and thoroughly apply Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization. We need to ground our work in the new stage of development, apply the new development philosophy, and foster a new pattern of development. Through the application of systematic thinking, we will strike a balance between development and emissions reduction, between overall and local imperatives, and between short-term and longer-term considerations. Endeavors to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon neutrality must be incorporated into the overall economic and social development framework. In this way, we aim to effect a comprehensive green transformation in respect of economic and social development, with a special focus on the development of green and low-carbon energy, with a view to expediting the development of industrial structures, production modes, living patterns, and spatial zones that will conserve resources and protect the environment. We are firmly committed to a green, low-carbon and high-quality development path that gives primacy to ecological civilization. This will ensure that the carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality goals are achieved as planned.
2．Working Guidelines
To achieve the objectives for carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality, we must follow the principles of exercising nationwide planning, prioritizing conservation, leveraging the strengths of the government and the market, coordinating efforts on the domestic and international fronts, and guarding against risks.
--Exercising nationwide planning. Taking a whole-of-nation approach, we will strengthen top-level design, leverage institutional strengths, hold both CPC committees and governments responsible, and ensure responsibilities are fulfilled by all parties. Policies will be implemented on a categorized basis in light of local circumstance in order to encourage local authorities to act on their own initiative and take the lead in peaking carbon dioxide emissions.
--Prioritizing conservation. To give first priority to the conservation of energy and resources, we need to introduce a comprehensive conservation strategy. We will continue to reduce energy and resource consumption and carbon emissions per unit of output, improve resource input-output efficiency, advocate simple, moderate, green and low-carbon living patterns, and effectively control carbon emissions at their source and point of entry.
--Leveraging the strengths of the government and the market. Both the government and the market have an important role to play. We need to establish a new system for mobilizing the nation to boost technological and institutional innovation and accelerate the revolution in green and low-carbon technology. We will deepen reform in energy and related fields, give full play to the role of market mechanisms, and create effective incentive and restraint mechanisms.
-- Coordinating efforts on the domestic and international fronts. Based on China's national context, we will coordinate planning for domestic and international energy and resources and promote advanced green and low-carbon technologies and practices. In the international response to climate change, we need to be prepared to both stand our ground and engage in cooperation, continue to increase China's influence and voice on the world stage, and resolutely safeguard our development rights and interests.
-- Guarding against risks. The efforts to reduce pollution and carbon emissions must be balanced with the need to ensure the security of energy, industrial chains, supply chains, and food, as well as normal daily life. We need to respond appropriately to any economic, financial, and social risks that may arise during the green and low-carbon transformation to prevent any excessive response and ensure carbon emissions are reduced in a safe and secure way.

II. MAIN OBJECTIVES
By 2025, China will have created an initial framework for a green, low-carbon and circular economy and greatly improved the energy efficiency of key industries. Energy consumption per unit of GDP will be lowered by 13.5% from the 2020 level; carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per unit of GDP will be lowered by 18% from the 2020 level; the share of non-fossil energy consumption will have reached around 20%; the forest coverage rate will have reached 24.1%, and the forest stock volume will have risen to 18 billion cubic meters. All the above will lay a solid foundation for carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality.
By 2030, China will see significant accomplishments from the comprehensive green transformation in economic and social development, with energy efficiency in key energy-consuming industries reaching advanced international levels. Energy consumption per unit of GDP will have declined significantly; CO2 emissions per unit of GDP will have dropped by more than 65% compared with the 2005 level; the share of non-fossil energy consumption will have reached around 25%, with the total installed capacity of wind power and solar power reaching over 1200 gigawatts; the forest coverage rate will have reached about 25%, and the forest stock volume will have reached 19 billion cubic meters. CO2 emissions will reach peak and stabilization and then decline.
By 2060, China will have fully established a green, low-carbon and circular economy and a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system. Energy efficiency will be at the advanced international level, and the share of non-fossil energy consumption will be over 80%. China will be carbon neutral, and it will have achieved fruitful results in ecological civilization and reached a new level of harmony between humanity and nature.

III. PROMOTING COMPREHENSIVE GREEN TRANSFORMATION IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
3．Strengthening guidance in planning of green and low-carbon development. We will fully incorporate the objectives for carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality into the medium- and long-term plans for economic and social development, and we will reinforce the support and safeguards of national development plans, territorial spatial plans and sector-based plans, as well as plans at the regional and local level. We will enhance coordination between various categories and levels of plans to ensure that across all regions and sectors, carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality objectives, development directions, and major policies and projects are aligned and consistent.
4．Optimizing plans for regional green and low-carbon development. We will continue to optimize the layout of major infrastructure, major production capacities, and public resources and create a new model of development and protection for territorial space that will help to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. Stronger guidance and requirements on green and low-carbon development will be provided in the implementation of major regional development strategies, including the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the development of the Yangtze Economic Belt, the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, and the ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.
5．Accelerating the formation of green production modes and living patterns. In the endeavor to conserve energy and reduce emissions, we will promote clean production across the board, accelerate the development of a circular economy, and improve comprehensive resource utilization, so as to continuously enhance the level of green and low-carbon development. We will expand the supply and consumption of products and advocate living patterns that are green and low-carbon. We should incorporate green and low-carbon development into our national education system, and we will launch demonstration initiatives for a green and low-carbon society. We will build societal consensus and move quickly to create a system for facilitating full public participation.

IV. IN-DEPTH INDUSTRIAL RESTRUCTURING
6．Optimizing and upgrading industrial structures. We will move faster to promote green agricultural development and improve carbon sequestration and efficiency in agriculture. We will create implementation plans for industries and fields including energy, steel, non-ferrous metals, petrochemicals, building materials, transportation and construction. Based on the goals of energy conservation and carbon reduction, we will revise the Catalog for Guiding Industry Restructuring. Authorities will be “looking back” to inspect steel and coal facilities that have cut overcapacity in order to consolidate achievements in this area. We will accelerate innovation in low-carbon industrial processes and the digital transformation of the industrial sector. We will launch the construction of demonstration zones for peaking carbon dioxide emissions. In fields such as goods distribution and information services, green transformations will be accelerated, and low-carbon development will be enhanced in the service sector.
7．Firmly curbing irrational expansion of energy-intensive and high-emission projects. Capacity substitutions must be strictly implemented at equal or reduced levels for new entries and expansion of energy-intensive and high-emission projects in areas such as steel, cement, flat glass, and electrolytic aluminum. We will introduce production capacity control policies for coal-fired power, petrochemical, and coal-based chemical industries. Oil refinery operations not listed in national industrial plans will be prohibited from engaging in new construction, reconstruction, or expansion, and unlisted ethylene, paraxylene, and coal-to-olefins projects will be banned from engaging in new construction. We will keep production capacity for coal-to-liquids and coal-to-gas at an appropriate scale, raise the energy-consumption access standards for energy-intensive and high-emission projects, and enhance analysis, early warnings, and window guidance for overcapacity.
8．Vigorously developing green and low-carbon industries. We need to accelerate the development of strategic emerging industries in areas such as next-generation information technology, biotechnology, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, new energy vehicles, environmental protection, aerospace, and marine equipment. We will establish a green manufacturing system and embed the internet, big data, artificial intelligence, 5G, and other emerging technologies into green and low-carbon industr......