The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, took stock of the implementation of the Paris Agreement for the first time, making it considered the most important climate conference since 2015. During the conference, major countries reached a number of new consensus on climate change and showed a more positive attitude, which will have an important impact on the next stage of the global energy transition pathway.
The Paris Agreement, agreed at COP21 in 2015, aims to guide countries around the world to take action to avert the risks of climate change. Under the agreement, countries pledged to limit the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to limit warming to 1I work hard within 5 degrees Celsius.
To achieve this goal, countries agreed to achieve carbon neutrality in the second half of the century. However, a commitment does not imply outright action, and the reality is that global climate action is still not enough to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. An official assessment of countries' Nationally Determined Contributions, released earlier this month, found that global emissions in 2030 will lead to 2 percent warming by the end of the century1 degree Celsius to 28 degrees Celsius. This could have disastrous consequences for the world, especially for developing countries. The frequent occurrence of extreme weather in recent years has been a constant reminder of the approaching potential risks. In response to this change, major countries have proposed more aggressive energy transition goals.
A significant increase in renewable energy capacity is the most striking outcome of the climate conference. On December 2, more than 100 countries signed the Global Declaration on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, proposing that by 2030, the global installed capacity of renewable energy will triple that of 2022, that is, more than 11 billion kilowattsThe rate of energy efficiency improvement is 1 times faster per year, i.e. from 2% to 4%. This new goal is exciting and one of the most widely supported initiatives at the conference. This commitment sends a signal to all walks of life that "the global green transition will be further accelerated", and a large-scale increase in the installed capacity of renewable energy such as wind power and solar power is crucial for the world to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.
China is a global leader in the field of renewable energy, not only ranking first in the world in terms of installed capacity, but also ranking first in the world in terms of new energy installed capacity all year round. Taking 2022 as an example, China will add 37.63 million kilowatts of wind power and 87.41 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power, accounting for 45% of the world's installed wind power and photovoltaic capacity, respectively6% and 485%。It is expected that by the end of this year, China's installed renewable energy power generation capacity will exceed 14500 million kilowatts, the installed capacity of wind power and photovoltaic power generation will exceed 1 billion kilowatts, a record high. Through technological innovation, the cost of new energy power generation has been greatly reduced, making clean electricity affordable all over the world.
Increasing the installed capacity target of renewable energy not only provides new investment opportunities for the global new energy industry, injects new momentum into economic recovery, but also poses a major test to the security of the first chain. At present, the first protection measures for new energy equipment have risen, which will only push up the cost of global energy transition and exacerbate the risk of the first chain, which requires all countries to jointly maintain the stability of the first chain with a more open and inclusive attitude and boost the energy transition. At the same time, in order to ensure the smooth switching of the energy structure, the construction of supporting power grid facilities and regulating power supply cannot be left behind.
Surprisingly, for the first time in the history of the General Assembly, a joint declaration on the development of nuclear energy was issued. More than 20 countries have launched the Triple Nuclear Energy Declaration, aiming to double the global installed nuclear energy capacity by 2050 compared to 2020. By the end of 2022, a total of 422 nuclear power units were in operation in 33 countries and regions, with a capacity of 37.8 billion kilowatts. Based on this, it is estimated that the global nuclear power scale will exceed 1.1 billion kilowatts by 2050.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, nuclear energy has helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 30 billion tons and provide a quarter of the world's clean electricity. At the same time, nuclear energy contributes to energy security and grid stability, and can promote the large-scale application of new energy. The flexible and stable deployment of nuclear energy, while ensuring safety, can also contribute to reducing emissions in areas such as district heating, desalination, industrial production and hydrogen production. There is no doubt that nuclear energy will play a more critical role in achieving carbon neutrality.
As one of the few countries in the world with an independent and complete nuclear industry chain, China has formed internationally competitive uranium resource development, nuclear fuel security, nuclear equipment manufacturing, nuclear engineering construction, nuclear waste treatment and other system capabilities. Recently, China's first nuclear power plant in the world has been put into operation, which has "inherent safety", further proving that human beings can use nuclear energy more safely. China should seize the historical opportunity of nuclear energy development and continue to promote China's standard nuclear power technology to the world.
Actions are always more important than words. As the largest use of renewable energy, China will continue to play a leading role in promoting green and low-carbon development and addressing climate change, focusing on implementation and strengthening support measures with other countries to promote an inclusive, just and resilient global energy transition, and jointly build a fair, reasonable and win-win global climate governance system. (This article**: Economy** Author: Wang Yichen).