iGDP develops and promotes solutions that are driving forward low-carbon economic growth
2023-04-28
Report (Chinese)
This Chinese language report reviews decarbonization efforts in the power sectors of six BRI countries. Topics include local climate change policy and renewable energy incentives; energy markets, economics and development plans; electric power market management systems; renewable and fossil energy resource endowments; investment environment and bilateral relations with China.
2023-03-02
Report
The 2022 CCNT Annual Report provides insight into the actions being taken in China’s provincial regions. Drawing on iGDP’s China Carbon Neutrality Tracker (CCNT), which tracks China’s low carbon policy actions at all levels (national, provincial, municipal), the report provides an overview of carbon emission trends, climate action planning, and progress on policy implementation throughout China. The report also incorporates case studies to assess the adequacy of existing local policies to support the dual carbon goals, and makes recommendations to strengthen local climate action.
April 24, 2023
According to the International Energy Agency, the approximately 2 billion air conditioning units in operation around the world were responsible for 994 million tons of CO2 emissions in 2021.These emissions are growing every year, as the living standard of people in the world’s developing economies continues to improve. By 2050, there will be nearly 6 billion air conditioning units in use worldwide.
Air conditioning, also referred to as space cooling, leads to greenhouse gas emissions via energy consumption. Cooling indoor spaces accounts for almost 20 percent of the electricity used in buildings. In China’s large and medium-sized cities, air conditioning in summer accounts for about 60 percent of the peak electricity load, which is the period of time when demand for electricity is highest.
In 2019, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the “National Clean Cooling Action Plan”. The plan is to improve overall energy efficiency levels of cooling products, such as household air conditioners, by more than 25 percent, and increase the market share of green and high-efficiency cooling products by more than 40 percent by 2030.
(Read the full op-ed here)
New Policy Briefs
iGDP recently released a new set of six policy briefs on mitigation of non-CO2 emissions in China. These policy briefs describe the current status of China’s key non-CO2 emitting sectors, characterizing their emissions and offering policy suggestions.
iGDP is a consultancy focusing on green and low-carbon development. iGDP works to strengthen the design and implementation of low-carbon solutions through interdisciplinary, systematic and empirical research. We work with a wide variety of partners and stakeholders to promote a zero-emissions future.
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Events
2023/03/02
China-U.S. climate policy and the prospects for climate cooperation
At an event organized by IE University in Spain, iGDP Principal and Co-Founder Hu Min was invited to a dialogue with former U.S. Deputy Foreign Minister Juan Verde on China-U.S. climate and energy policy progress and the prospects for climate cooperation. Hu Min gave an overview China’s dual-carbon policy strategy, the status of China’s clean energy development, and the challenges and opportunities of global efforts to decarbonize in the context of energy security. Juan Verde discussed global green economic transformation and the significance of the US Inflation Reduction Act. Political and business representatives participating in the meeting commented that Europe’s quest for energy security and the realization of green recovery goals are inseparable from the climate and economic policies of China and the United States, with good communication being the premise of healthy cooperation and competition.
2022/12/12
At a Wilson Center webinar, iGDP’s Hu Min and Chen Meian gave an overview of their new report The Agri-Food System and Carbon Neutrality, which maps out decarbonization pathways China could take across the whole agri-food system to help reach the country’s carbon neutrality goals.
Panelists included iGDP Principal Kevin Mo and Patty Fong from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.
The webinar can be viewed here.
Dialogue 2049 is an iGDP-managed WeChat channel that covers developments in green and low-carbon policies in in China and abroad, highlighting iGDP research.
Presentations
2022-10-27
Presentation
iGDP Analyst Xi Xi and Principal Hu Min gave a presentation to Fellows at the Africa-China Legal Fellows Project, discussing China’s domestic and international climate policies and commitments. Before an audience from various locations on the African continent and other parts of the world, the speakers first covered the history and significance of China’s climate policies with an overview of China’s political economy. With this background, China’s domestic climate and energy targets and associated policy pathways were discussed. The second half of the talk focused on China’s climate commitments and actions abroad, with a special focus on Belt and Road Initiative countries as well as other international collaborations. At the end of the conversation, the audience and the speakers discussed the role of China in African countries’ energy transitions and clean energy development.
Drawing on iGDP’s in-house policy tracker and energy database, our energy modeling team develops analytical tools to identify the most economically efficient pathways for China’s energy system transition. iGDP has also worked on the just transition away from coal in Shanxi’s energy restructuring and energy financing.
iGDP organizes international workshops on green finance, conducts analysis of China’s consignment auctioning and the implications of carbon border adjustment mechanisms, tracks infrastructure investments to identify opportunities for green finance, and bridges the gap between low-carbon policy and green finance to facilitate the creative deployment of renewable energy.
iGDP tracks China’s performance on its periodically updated NDCs, builds models of the country’s national long term strategy, and provides information on China’s climate actions through the Carbon Neutrality Tracker data platform. iGDP also pushes forward into new areas for climate action such as non-CO2 greenhouse gases, climate-safe cooling, and food system emissions.
iGDP evaluates the low-carbon performance of China’s cities, tracks and maintains a database of low-carbon case studies, and performs research on China’s peaking and net-zero efforts at the subnational level. With partner organizations, we organize workshops and training programs on low-carbon city planning.
iGDP has developed a variety of tools and platforms, web-based and on social media channels, to help keep the climate community up-to-date on China’s climate actions and promote knowledge sharing. We also serve as the secretariat of China’s Green Think Tank Development Partnership, a network of city and regional research institutes throughout China.
iGDP maintains two analytical tools to help researchers and policymakers better understand China’s progress in low-carbon development.
China LOGIC is the “Low-carbon & Green Index for Cities”. It provides a system to track progress, a database to evaluate performance, and an analytical tool to help cities identify improved solutions for low carbon and clean energy development, and early carbon peaking.
China Carbon Neutrality Tracker is an online database and interactive platform that tracks China’s carbon neutrality actions at the national, subnational and sectoral levels. Information can be searched and sorted by issuing institution, release date, sector and action type.
2023 Green Development Think Tank Partnership Annual Conference
The 2023 Green and Low-Carbon Development Think Tank Annual Conference was held on March 24-25 in Guangzhou. With the theme of “Local Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutralization: Deepening and Breaking Through,” the conference brought together leading energy, environment and climate experts from around China to discuss China’s long-term decarbonization goals. Participants included Li Gao, Director of the Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Hong Jianwu, Director of the Climate and Exchange Division of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, Zhou Dadi, member of the National Climate Change Expert Committee, Zhang Xiliang, Director of the Institute for Energy, Environment and Economics at Tsinghua University, Zou Ji, CEO of the Energy Foundation and President of China, Ma Aimin, Deputy Director of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy Research and International Cooperation, and forty other experts.
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