Oxford research shows how China can meet carbon neutrality

China is the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, accounting for 27 per cent of global emissions, but it made a shock pledge during the 75th UN General Assembly to become carbon neutral by 2060.

A study led by Oxford University's Sum Yue Chung suggests that by using sensitive intervention policies at city-level, China could reach this target even earlier.

The research was conducted by the University of Oxford and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Image: Newsquest)

The team of researchers, including members from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, interviewed a range of energy experts in Beijing and Hong Kong.

From academia, industry and green groups, the experts all gave their opinions on what the key policies for decarbonisation should be.

This aimed to determine which policy measures could be prioritised for the biggest emission reductions.

Sum Yue Chung of the School of Geography and the Environment said: "While cities are influenced by global or national sensitive intervention points, this study strives to explore those that underlie concrete actions by local actors in the hope of accelerating decarbonisation and enriching the body of climate policy research with city-level insights and multi-level perspectives."

Findings have indicated that some measures, such as importing renewable energy, electrifying transport, and increasing building energy efficiency, are likely to be more successful than others.

She continued: "Multiple interviewees iterated the political implications of the Chinese President announcing a carbon neutrality goal.

"One respondent framed carbon neutrality as a ‘grand target that changes national development goals,’ driving a total revolution of China, with the announcement indicating that China has entered in the global race for net zero technological advancements."

She also commented on how this research not only provides the framework to achieve carbon neutrality, but to achieve it quicker than 2060.

Matthew Ives, associate at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the University of Oxford, believes this research could prompt the global transition to clean energy.

He said: "China, with over a quarter of global emissions, is also leading the world in production and deployment of clean energy technology.

"They therefore hold the key to the world rapidly tackling climate change and delivering a global net zero."

He added: "In this research we show that with a targeted approach, China and by extension the world, can achieve its climate goals faster.

Mr Ives emphasised the importance of renewable technologies and urged Hong Kong to follow Beijing’s example in importing more green energy, saying "the more we deploy, the more we learn, and the more costs decline".