With the impact of human activities on the global climate, the climate crisis is becoming more widespread, more severe and almost ubiquitous. As a result of global warming, we are experiencing a range of catastrophic weather and climate events such as heat waves, floods, droughts, forest fires and rising sea levels. Average global temperatures are rising at an unprecedented rate, the likelihood of global warming levels remaining no more than 1.5°C below pre-industrial levels is rapidly decreasing, and the risk of humanity crossing an irreversible tipping point is increasing.
In September 2020, China announced to the world its goal of achieving carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. This is not only a national policy to actively address climate change, but also a national strategy based on scientific evidence, both a realistic goal for action and a visionary long-term development strategy.
What is “carbon peaking” and “carbon neutrality”? Carbon neutral means that the net increase in carbon emissions necessary for human economic and social activities is captured and utilised through forest carbon sinks and other artificial technologies or engineering means, or sequestered, so that the net increase in greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere is zero.
The Paris Agreement sets a target for Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to make immediate, nationally owned contributions to climate change mitigation, to peak carbon emissions as soon as possible, to achieve carbon neutrality by the second half of the century, and to limit the increase in global surface temperature to less than 2°C relative to pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. Not only that, but Parties will also work towards a temperature control target of 1.5°C.
At present, the global average surface temperature has increased by more than 1°C, and China is warming at a rate higher than the global average. If warming continues at the current rate, the global temperature increase could reach 1.5°C by 2030-2052.
Current global warming is already leading to increasing climate risks and climate change is a global issue for humanity. As a result, most developed countries have specified a timeline for carbon neutrality after achieving peak carbon emissions. For example, Finland confirms 2035, and countries such as Sweden, Austria and Iceland achieve net zero emissions by 2045; the European Union, the UK, Norway, Canada and Japan have set the timeline for carbon neutrality at 2050. Some developing countries, such as Chile, also plan to be carbon neutral by 2050.
Given that around 30 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide are produced globally every year, we humans must gradually reduce the use of primary energy sources such as chemical energy and replace them with clean energy, so heat pumps and air conditioning become the protagonists of the energy supply in the 21st century.
