Climate change: China encourages public engagement with low-carbon promotion week, but industrial energy transition remains crucial

Name: China launches world’s largest carbon-trading scheme as part of 2060 carbon neutrality goal
Uploaded: 2021-09-06T02:30:51.000Z
Duration: 2 min 38 s
Description: China launches world’s largest carbon-trading scheme as part of 2060 carbon neutrality goal

After Xi unveiled China’s ambitious carbon neutrality goal in September, many energy-saving campaigns have been organised this year

The real significance of public climate action is to send a strong signal to policymakers, industries and companies, says Greenpeace campaigner

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Rush hour in Beijing. A forum on National Low-Carbon Day unveiled an online platform that will let residents keep track of their carbon savings and quantify their emissions reductions in exchange for incentives and rewards. Photo: EPA-EFE

Yujie Xue

Published: 10:30am, 6 Sep 2021Updated: 9:59pm, 6 Sep 2021

For the whole week, Xu Nuo, a 35-year-old resident of Jiangmen in China’s southern Guangdong province, cooked for herself instead of ordering food, used the fan instead of the air conditioner, and saved her rice water rinse to water the plants.

And by posting about it on messaging app WeChat, she was able to collect notebooks and a canvas bag from the Jiangmen Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment as a reward for her contribution towards energy conservation.

“It is not that hard to live a low-carbon life,” she told the Post recently. “I might still use the air conditioner when it is really hot, but will definitely keep other energy-saving habits, such as saving water or ordering fewer takeouts.”

Early last month, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s economic planning body, announced that the annual National Energy Efficiency Promotion Week would run from August 23 to 29, while August 25 would be celebrated as National Low-Carbon Day. The commission ordered local governments to launch online and offline campaigns and activities to promote knowledge and raise public awareness about energy conservation.

The week has been observed since 1991, but this year’s was the first since Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the country’s climate goals last September, saying that the country, the world’s largest carbon emitter, would peak emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2060.

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China launches world’s largest carbon-trading scheme as part of 2060 carbon neutrality goal

Many campaigns and activities promoting energy-saving tips have been organised this year. For instance, TikTok developer ByteDance launched companywide activities such as staircase races to educate employees about workplace carbon emissions, such as those created by using lifts, according to a ByteDance spokeswoman.

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