US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry (left) meets China Special Envoy for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua in Shanghai. (File photo: Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment)

China's recent commitment to curb coal consumption and coal-fired power projects has sent a strong signal that the country will unswervingly reduce its reliance on coal as a dominant source of energy, experts said.

China strives to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. How can China achieve these goals? What do they mean to China and the world?

While global attention centers on China's economic targets as top officials meet in Beijing to map out blueprints for the country's development over the next five years and beyond, policies on environmental protection, specifically reducing carbon emissions, are expected to be highlighted in the new 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), Chinese experts said.

Located in the Yellow River Basin and the Fenhe-Weihe Plains, Linfen City of Shanxi Province is also part of the greater Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, where the fight against air pollution has lasted decades.

Engaging the public in climate action is a key task in the pursuit of climate neutrality and the global 1.5-degree goal. For communicators, how to tell climate stories so as to create agency around climate change is a long-standing challenge.

According to estimates by the International Institute of Refrigeration, carbon emissions associated with the coolling sector are about 4.14 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year, or 7.8 percent of the total global GHG emissions.

The Coal Transition Quarterly is a serial newsletter of the Coal Transition Task Force (TF) at Energy Foundation China (EFC). It provides an overview of major developments on coal phase-out and environmental, social, and economic issues in China and beyond.

In June 2022, the International Council on Clean Transportation released the 2021 edition of this annual report reviewing how much the world has progressed toward electric vehicles. The research was conducted with the support of Energy Foundation China.

In January 2023, with the support of Energy Foundation China, the Guangdong Urban and Rural Planning and Design Institute released this report on how factors are affecting carbon emissions in Guangdong, a manufacturing powerhouse in southern China, based on a scenario analysis.

In April 2023, with support from Energy Foundation China, the Center for Climate Communication and Risk Governance at the Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication released this report explaining how to improve climate communication in China, based on a nationwide survey of 8,077 Chinese citizens and several focus groups and in-depth interviews with experts, climate communication practitioners, and members of the public.