On the afternoon of the 29th, the "Report on Climate Change (2023)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") was released in Beijing, jointly prepared by the Institute of Ecological Civilization of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the National Climate Center of the China Meteorological Administration, which assessed the overall situation of global climate change in 2023 and summarized the work of the international community in response to climate change in 2023. So, what is the global climate change situation this year?Let's start with the report.
Global warming is accelerating, and there are still gaps in emission reduction measures among countries.
Getting hotter and hotter is the current megatrend of change in the global climate system. According to the latest monitoring data, 2015 to 2022 was the eight warmest years in the world since meteorological records began in 1850, and the trend of global warming continues this year, and the report** will continue to record new global average temperatures in the next five years.
In the context of climate warming, the most intuitive feeling of ordinary people is that there are more and more extreme weather and climate events, and they are becoming more and more intense. According to the World Meteorological Organization, global flood-related economic losses in 2022 exceeded the 2002-2021 average, while drought-related economic losses reached $7.6 billion, nearly 200% higher than the 2002-2021 average. China's frequent extreme weather events this year, such as high temperatures, heavy rains, and cold waves, also confirm this trend.
Faced with this situation, countries around the world are stepping up their response. COP28, which just concluded this year, completed the first global review of the Paris Agreement, with more than 140 countries proposing goals related to near-zero emissions and carbon neutrality. At the same time, however, there is still a big gap between countries if they want to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions deeply, rapidly and sustainably. For example, the installed capacity of renewable energy alone needs to triple by 2030.
China's "dual carbon" work has made new progress this year.
In recent years, China has continued to actively respond to climate change as a national strategy, and has made great progress in carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. This year, not only has the policy system and market mechanism for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality been gradually improved, but various localities have also carried out various active explorations according to local conditions. New progress has been made in the implementation of the "dual carbon" goal on the basis of a good start.
2023 can be said to be the year of improvement of China's "1+N" policy system for carbon peak and carbon neutrality. According to incomplete statistics, in 2022 and the first nine months of 2023, China has introduced 120 dual carbon policies at the national level, mainly in energy, electricity, industry and other fields, especially to focus on supporting the development and utilization of renewable energy through various channels. In October this year, the country issued the "National Carbon Peak Pilot Construction Plan", and the first batch of pilots included 25 cities including Zhangjiakou City. In November, the "Methane Emission Control Action Plan" was promulgated, setting out targets and measures to control methane emissions during the 14th and 15th Five-Year Plan periods.
The development of clean energy industry is the path chosen by many cities where technology-intensive industries are concentrated. Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, has gathered more than 70% of the leading enterprises in the power battery industry chain in China. In the intelligent workshop of this new energy vehicle factory, each production line can roll off the assembly line every 100 seconds to send the power unit of an electric vehicle to mainstream automakers at home and abroad. Since the beginning of this year, the company has increased production lines and expanded production capacity in Changzhou for three consecutive times, and it is the intensive, one-stop clean energy industry chain here.
At present, Changzhou has seized the opportunity of the "dual carbon" policy and has formed a clean energy industry chain with photovoltaic-based "power generation", power battery-based "energy storage", power transmission and transformation "transmission" and new energy vehicle-based "application" as the main body. In 2023, the output value of the city's new energy industry is expected to exceed 720 billion yuan.
Traditional industrial bases are also exploring new ways of green development. A few days ago, 110 hydrogen fuel cell heavy trucks were delivered in Tangshan, Hebei Province, which is the first time that this old industrial city uses hydrogen energy to transport steel, and achieves an annual carbon emission reduction of about 120,000 tons. And this is just one part of the combination of Tangshan's steel industry and new energy industry. Tangshan is vigorously developing offshore wind power and green hydrogen projects to provide green energy for the traditional steel industry. At present, 4 offshore wind farms are being planned, and the total installed wind power capacity has been completed 5160,000 kilowatts, with a total development capacity of 1.3 million kilowatts.
The results of the evaluation of green and low-carbon development of Chinese cities were released.
Cities are the center of gravity of economic development and the core areas of carbon reduction. In the "Report" released on the 29th, another eye-catching achievement is the release of the 2022 evaluation of green and low-carbon development of Chinese cities. What is the overall level of green development in China's cities?What are the strengths and weaknesses?In what areas should efforts be made?Let's find out in this review.
The 189 cities participating in the evaluation cover the three batches of low-carbon pilot cities carried out by the state and cities with a population of more than 1 million in each province. The evaluation criteria include the city's energy transition, industrial upgrading, green development, environmental governance, etc. In 2022, these cities scored an average of 80 points on the Green Development Composite Index, with Shenzhen and Beijing topping the list with a score of more than 90 points. Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xiamen, Sanya and other cities ranked highly. In terms of geographical regions, the eastern and central regions are higher than the northeastern and western regions, and the southern regions are significantly higher than the northern regions.
Through the evaluation results, it can be found that the higher the level of urban economic development, the more obvious the promotion effect on green and low-carbon development. In addition, contrary to previous beliefs, the study found that if sustainable development is addressed and ecological priorities are followed, the larger the city, the higher the level of green and low-carbon development.
The evaluation results of China's urban green and low-carbon development provide new ideas for China's future green and low-carbon development. Experts believe that first of all, we should focus on breakthroughs, concentrate resources, and increase green investment in cities with high per capita GDP and relatively developed areas, which can help optimize the relationship between low-carbon emission reduction and economic development, and alleviate the current pressure of industrial upgrading. In addition, it is also necessary to build inter-city and inter-regional cooperation mechanisms, such as "east-west counterpart assistance" and "north-south carbon reduction assistance", to help achieve the "dual carbon" goal in areas with greater pressure on green and low-carbon development.
CCTV reporter Sheng Yun Wang Chen).
*: CCTV news client).