At the Beijing Forum (2021) held on November 18, the "Path to Carbon Neutrality for City Planets" sub-forum featured a roundtable discussion session titled "How Cities Planet Can Achieve Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality."
Director Liu Zhi first mentioned Professor Spence's 2009 report for the World Bank titled "Climate Change, Mitigation, and Growth in Developing Countries," and asked him to discuss the progress of global climate action over the past twelve years. Professor Spence pointed out that in 2009, there was not much global consensus on how mitigating climate change could hinder economic development; Now we have realized the contradiction between economic growth and environmental protection, and we must resolve this contradiction by identifying distinct yet unified and coherent responsibilities.
As an advisor to the Belgian government delegation, Professor Ypersele recently attended the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow, UK. Director Liu Zhi specially invited him to share his views on the outcomes of the conference. Professor Ypersele said that compared to previous summits, COP26 sent positive signals in six areas. First, the enormous impacts of climate change, such as floods, are happening right now, making all sectors realize the urgency of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases; Second, countries need to increase investment in greenhouse gas emission reduction actions to address the accelerating pace of climate change; Third, although quantifying carbon emissions is somewhat challenging, all sectors should respect the carbon market and the establishment of corresponding rules; Fourth, at COP26, developed countries have recognized their responsibility to compensate less developed countries for losses caused by climate change; Fifth, COP26 agreed to implement plans to support developing countries in mitigating and adapting to climate change, with developed countries more willing to share funds to support their climate adaptation; Sixth, since climate change is inevitable, more work is needed in adaptation areas. However, Professor Ypersele also pointed out that reaching consensus is only the premise for action; current global action is still far from enough to address the huge issue of climate change, and more practical actions are urgently needed.
Afterwards, Director Liu Zhi invited Dr. Ma Jun to share his views on the current state and future development of green finance. Dr. Ma Jun pointed out that green finance covers not only carbon reduction and energy transition, but also environmental protection projects addressing land, water, and air pollution, as well as biodiversity initiatives, all of which face significant financing needs and gaps. However, the funding available to both the public and private sectors is currently very limited, making financial institutions especially important. Dr. Ma Jun also introduced China's top-down green finance system, including the classification of green investment scope, information disclosure requirements, and government incentives. Dr. Ma Jun pointed out that after China announced carbon neutrality, significant work should be carried out in green finance standards, corporate information reporting, and innovations related to emission reduction.
In recent years, Professor Fu Jun has led his team to conduct in-depth policy research on climate change mitigation and adaptation in China. Director Liu Zhi invited Professor Fu Jun to discuss the uniqueness of China's carbon reduction process. Professor Fu Jun pointed out that China's uniqueness lies in the ongoing process of urbanization and industrialization, with energy largely dependent on fossil fuels including coal, so a great deal of work is needed to gradually transition to non-fossil fuels. He also raised the issue of carbon equity. From a global perspective, there are two key concepts that need clarification: carbon equity and carbon neutrality. The former focuses more on particular justice, while the latter involves general justice. China has already announced its goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, signaling that the policy direction has shifted from special justice to broad justice. From a domestic perspective, carbon neutrality also involves issues of fairness, because China's regional differences are obvious—each region has varying levels of economic development, industrial structure, and population size. Accordingly, China adopts the "1+N" policy framework, where the central government designs the framework while also considering the specific circumstances of each region.
Professor Spence agreed with Professor Fu Jun's viewpoint, pointing out that climate issues are global, and therefore, in climate budget allocation, developed and developing countries need to first negotiate before taking action. Professor Ypersele also stated that there is no single policy that can solve all problems, whether in climate or biodiversity conservation. He further pointed out that the 17 global Sustainable Development Goals can be synergized through synergistic solutions.
During the discussion, Dr. Ma Jun introduced the work on the sustainable development roadmap carried out by the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group, where he serves as co-chair. The roadmap proposes more than a dozen actions, three of which are particularly noteworthy. First, to improve the comparability, compatibility, and consistency of sustainable finance standards. The recent publication of the Common Taxonomy of Sustainable Finance led by China and Europe is an important step in this direction. Second, the G20 reached consensus to support the establishment of globally unified standards for sustainable information disclosure. Third, to support economic activities transitioning to low or zero carbon, the G20 will establish a transition finance framework, which includes definitions and classifications of transition economic activities, disclosure requirements, financial instruments, and incentive mechanisms.
Professor Fu Jun mentioned the contributions of technologies such as "Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage" (CCUS) and "Carbon Capture and Storage" (CCS) to carbon neutrality and carbon peaking, which is one of the recent research achievements he and his team have made. The research results have just been published in English as a monograph: Climate Mitigation and Adaptation in China: Policy, Technology and Market (Springer, 2021). He emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary perspectives, pointing out the need for coordination among policy, technology, and markets. A well-functioning carbon market needs strong policy support, so systematic, coordinated, and comprehensive approaches are essential to achieving carbon neutrality.
The guests also answered questions raised by the online audience. The first question from the audience was about how to accelerate the transformation of energy consumption structures. Professor Ypersele stated that eliminating fossil fuels is not the goal; the ultimate goal is to maintain our planet so that everyone can survive, and therefore global warming must be slowed. He also pointed out that if carbon dioxide could be priced through economic means and market mechanisms, people would think twice before using the atmosphere as a free trash bin.
The second question concerns how to view achieving carbon neutrality and regional coordination in China. Professor Fu Jun pointed out that China's "1+N" approach is where the central government utilizes an overall framework, and under policy and market mechanisms, each region can consider specific local plans. Due to differences in industrial structures across regions, a unified standard is not feasible. Although carbon reduction is urgent, gradual market mechanisms are still better than administrative measures. There must be a good balance between administrative and market measures, with the market playing a more important role.
Dr. Ma Jun addressed the question of how green finance balances the relationship between traditional and emerging industries in terms of financing. He pointed out that some traditional industries are currently upgrading equipment and using more low-carbon raw materials, which green finance can support. In the future, more transformation-related activities should be incorporated into sustainable finance standards. At the same time, we must be vigilant against and prevent greenwashing during the transition process.
Professor Spence shared his insights on how to transform regional carbon markets into efficient global carbon markets. He first affirmed the importance of this issue, pointing out that due to differences in income between countries, carbon prices can vary greatly, so it is necessary to consolidate after achieving some consistency across regional markets.
Finally, Director Liu Zhi invited all guests to share their views on confidence in achieving the global target of 1.5°C temperature control. All guests expressed a cautious and optimistic attitude, pointing out that, based on existing solutions, countries must have sufficient political will, comprehensive international coordination and cooperation, and further innovation, while also preparing for adverse scenarios.
Director Liu Zhi stated that this discussion overall gave us more confidence, and he hopes the audience will hold greater hope for the bright future of our city planet.
