Recently, the State Council printed and distributed “Action Plan for Carbon Peak before 2030” (hereinafter referred to as the “plan”). The “plan” was an important strategic decision made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council about the carbon peak and carbon neutrality. “Suggestions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Fully, Accurately and Comprehensively Implementation of the New Development Concept to Achieve Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality” required that the government needed to focus on carbon peak before 2030 and made an overall plan.

    The “plan” stressed that the government needed to follow Xi Jinping thoughts for socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, Xi Jinping’s ecological civilization thoughts and spirits conveyed in the 19^th CPC National Conference and the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th plenary session of the 19^th central committee. Relating departments needed to have a good, complete and accurate understanding of the new development stage; implement new development ideas; construct new development structure and stick to systematic concept, so as to treat the relationship of the development and emission reduction, the whole and a part as well as short term and middle and long term. The country should included carbon peak and carbon neutrality into the plan of economic and social development; do the work relating to the carbon peak in an orderly way; accelerate the reform to have green style of production and consumption; push the economic and social development to be based on the high-efficiency use of resource and green and low-carbon development, so as to guarantee that the goal of carbon peak would be realized before 2030.

    The “plan” stressed that the government needed to stick to the principles of “overall plan, different strategies for different problems, systematic promotion, breakthrough in priority, two driving-forces, effect from two ways, order and stability and safe carbon reduction”. The government needed to enhance top-level design and coordination of all parties; improve the systematic and coordinating features of the policy; make full use of the government and market mechanism; make new breakthrough to be free from an outdated mode; see national energy security and economic development as the bottom line; promote a steady transformation to low-carbon energy consumption and promote action towards carbon peak in a general way. The “plan” stipulated main goals including the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption, increasing the efficiency of energy consumption and decreasing carbon dioxide emission.

    The “plan” required that the idea of carbon peak should be seen in the whole process and all aspects of the economy and society. International cooperation and policy guarantee should be carried out along with the “ten carbon peak action”, namely, green low-carbon transformation for energy, promotion action to save energy and improve effect, carbon peak action in industrial field, carbon peak action in urban and rural construction, green and low carbon action in transportation, carbon reduction action supported by recycling economy, innovation of green and low-carbon scientific and technological action, improvement of the carbon sink, green and low carbon action plan for all people and carbon peak action in various regions.

    The “plan” required that the country needed to enhance and coordinate all departments. The CPC Central Committee needed to enhanced it’s concentrated unified leadership for work relating to the carbon peak and carbon neutrality. The leading group needed to have an overall plan and a systematic promotion for relating work. The office of the leading group needed to improve it’s overall coordination and encourage people to implement their task with attention to detail. The government needed to pay more attention to shoulder responsibilities and to carry out tasks and be sure that policy, measure and effect would meet the expectation. Supervision and examination must be strict. A sound system for comprehensive evaluation and examination must be set up and the application of the evaluation result should be enhanced. Award should be given to outstanding regions, institutes and individuals according to the stipulation. And regions and departments failing to meet the target should be criticized and be held accountable.