For Asia, which is currently facing the risk of accelerated glacial melt, reducing black carbon is not only part of air pollution control but should also be a key measure for protecting the “water towers of Asia,” safeguarding regional water resources, and enhancing climate resilience.

This study examines China's nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission trends and mitigation potential to 2035 and 2050. Under an ambitious Deep Decarbonization Scenario, China's N₂O emissions could fall by 73% by 2050 (or 51% under a more moderate New Policies Scenario), with the industrial sector delivering the largest share of reductions. Under the new policies scenario, industry could cut N₂O emissions by about 177 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) by 2035 — 76% of China's total — rising to roughly 211 million tonnes by 2050. To unlock this potential, the report sets out three priority pathways: strengthen capacity and technological innovation for industrial N₂O mitigation; align product carbon footprints with green supply chains to turn mitigation into industrial competitiveness; and integrate N₂O mitigation into China's coordinated framework for reducing pollution and carbon emissions.

Given that greenhouse gas emissions reductions remain a long-term endeavor, addressing black carbon—a short-lived climate pollutant—may be an important pathway to linking air pollution control with climate goals and achieving synergistic pollution and carbon reduction efforts.

China has released a five-year plan dedicated to addressing climate change.

Recently, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in collaboration with the National Development and Reform Commission and 18 other departments, jointly issued the “National 15th Five-Year Plan for Climate Change Response,” establishing for the first time a comprehensive, all-encompassing system of climate change response targets at the five-year planning level.