June 5th special issue| Lu Xuedu: Green and low-carbon transformation requires the joint efforts of the government, enterprises and society
In recent years, my country's green and low-carbon industries have developed rapidly, and the clean energy industry has risen rapidly, effectively promoting the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure.
However, achieving green and low-carbon transformation is not achieved overnight. Our country faces many challenges and difficulties in the transformation process. How to promote the green transformation of traditional industries? How to stimulate the enthusiasm of enterprises to participate in green and low-carbon transformation? Our reporter interviewed Lu Xuedu, former chief climate change expert of the Asian Development Bank and senior consultant of Tencent's carbon neutrality.
China Environment News: You have been engaged in climate change related work for more than 40 years. What stages do you think all sectors of society have gone through in understanding green and low-carbon development?
Lu Xuedu:Looking back on my country's green and low-carbon transformation process, I personally believe that it can be roughly divided into four stages.
The first stage (before 2005): Domestic understanding of green and low-carbon transformation is still very limited, mainly at the academic research level; although there is strong environmental awareness and actions in society, including the enterprise level, it has not been elevated to green and low-carbon development.
The second stage (2005 - 2010): As countries participate in the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the United Nations Climate Change Framework, green and low-carbon transformation has gradually attracted attention. Many companies participated in it and gained economic benefits, which greatly promoted society's understanding and practical attempts at green and low-carbon transformation.
The third stage (2010 - 2020): The domestic green and low-carbon transformation has entered a systematic promotion stage. For example, low-carbon city pilots and carbon trading pilots have been launched one after another, and policy formulation, scientific research and pilot projects have been continuously advanced. Especially after the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, my country attaches great importance to green and low-carbon transformation, which has promoted the whole society's understanding and practice of green and low-carbon transformation. However, although some progress and achievements have been made at this stage, it is still in the exploratory stage, and the public's understanding and understanding of green and low-carbon transformation is still limited.
Phase 4 (after 2020): September 22, 2020, President of the StateXiJinpingIt was announced at the 75th United Nations General Assembly that China will increase its nationally determined contribution and adopt more powerful policies and measures. Carbon dioxide emissions will strive to peak before 2030 and strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. This has become a watershed for China's green and low-carbon transformation and development, and also marks that China's green and low-carbon transformation has entered a new stage.
China Environment News: Under the "double carbon" goal, eight high-energy-consuming and high-emission industries, including electricity, petrochemicals, chemicals, building materials, steel, non-ferrous metals, papermaking and civil aviation, are becoming key areas for the green and low-carbon transformation of the industry. What do you think of the low-carbon transformation of high-carbon industries? What misunderstandings need to be avoided?
Lu Xuedu:The low-carbon transformation of high-carbon industries is critical to achieving the "double carbon" goal and is also the top priority. Taken literally, transformation does not mean that there is no development, but that there is a need to reduce carbon while developing.
At present, some places reject high-carbon projects across the board or simply and crudely shut down high-carbon industries. I think this is very inappropriate. For grassroots management departments, they must have a correct understanding of low-carbon transformation and judge whether it is necessary to launch high-carbon projects based on the country's industrial development plans and policies. For high-carbon construction projects that meet the needs of national policies, carbon emissions can be reduced as much as possible and carbon emissions per unit of product can be reduced by adopting the most advanced low-carbon technologies and management systems. In this way, high-carbon industries can not only contribute to social and economic development, but also reduce carbon emissions relative to benchmark high-carbon projects.
At present, the power industry has made an early start in green and low-carbon transformation. Although coal still dominates the power industry, renewable energy power generation has shown explosive growth. Another example is the transportation industry. With the breakthroughs in battery technology and renewable energy technology, the prospects for low-carbon transformation of the transportation industry are getting brighter and brighter. The steel industry is also a high-carbon industry and is facing huge pressure for low-carbon transformation. Now, innovative technologies such as carbon capture and hydrogen steelmaking will provide new possibilities for the low-carbon transformation of the steel industry.
In general, there is still a long way to go before high-carbon industries achieve low-carbon transformation, but as long as they have patience, work hard for a long time, and achieve technological breakthroughs, there is hope. Of course, achieving green and low-carbon transformation requires the joint efforts of the government, enterprises and society to jointly promote the transformation process.
China Environment News: With the launch of the national carbon market, there are more and more means to use market mechanisms to regulate the economic structure and promote green and low-carbon transformation. How do you think companies should use policy tools correctly and well?
Lu Xuedu:At present, China has launched pilot projects such as green finance, transformation finance, and climate investment and financing. In particular, green finance has gone through a 10-year history. I believe that the state, industry and local departments need to provide more financial innovation and reform policies and measures to meet the huge financial needs of low-carbon transformation and development of high-carbon industries.
From an enterprise perspective, we must closely follow national and local low-carbon transformation and development policies, understand and understand how to implement these policies and how to win more policy dividends. For example, the carbon emission reduction support tool launched by the People's Bank of China has a great impact, but its coverage can be further expanded, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
At the same time, we also know that many places are currently facing considerable financial pressure. Therefore, innovative policies are needed with appropriate financial support to maximize the effectiveness of policies and play a role in diverting thousands of pounds.
China Environment News: Green and low-carbon transformation is inseparable from the innovative application of low-carbon technologies. Do you think the soil has formed to promote the application and promotion of low-carbon technologies? What is missing at the moment?
Lu Xuedu:Technological innovation is the fundamental way to promote green and low-carbon transformation and achieve the "double carbon" goal. In view of my country's current situation, I believe that the atmosphere for promoting low-carbon transformation and low-carbon technology investment at the macro level is already very good, but from the meso and micro levels, it still needs to be strengthened in the following aspects: First, accurate understanding and implementation of central policies and measures, and avoid large deviations in the implementation process; Second, provide more preferential financial policies and financial support to accurately support and promote investment in advanced low-carbon technologies; The third is to establish a more complete market system to stimulate investment in advanced technologies through the market; the fourth is to formulate and improve relevant regulations and standards to ensure that the application of advanced technologies is guaranteed and supported by regulations. These measures will more effectively promote green and low-carbon transformation and achieve sustainable development.
