National Development and Reform Commission vice-minister publishes article in People's Daily: Vigorously promoting energy conservation efforts to contribute to carbon neutrality

China's pursuit of carbon peaking before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060 is a major strategic decision made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core after careful consideration. It concerns the sustainable development of the Chinese nation and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. We must thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization, comprehensively and accurately implement the new development philosophy, and take improving energy efficiency as an important focus for achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. We must adhere to and strengthen energy conservation efforts throughout the entire process and in all areas, continuously reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the source, promote the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, and build a modern civilization that is harmonious between humans and nature.

01. Achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality puts forward new and higher requirements for energy conservation and emission reduction.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality is a broad and profound systemic transformation of the economic and social system. Carbon peaking and carbon neutrality must be incorporated into the overall layout of ecological civilization construction. We must make persistent efforts to achieve the goals of carbon peaking before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. As the world's largest developing country, China is still in the stage of deepening industrialization and urbanization, and the demand for energy resources remains rigid. The time window for achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality is tight, and the tasks are arduous. We must make persistent efforts, using energy conservation and emission reduction as an important lever, to accelerate the transformation of the development mode, optimize the economic structure, and transform the growth engine, so that economic and social development is based on efficient resource utilization and green, low-carbon development.

Energy conservation is a key support for achieving the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Energy consumption, especially fossil energy consumption, is the main source of carbon dioxide emissions in China. To achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality as scheduled, we must unswervingly prioritize energy and resource conservation, fully leverage the source control role of energy conservation, achieve carbon peaking at a relatively low peak level, and promote China's energy efficiency to the world's leading level, forming an effective carbon emission control valve.

Energy conservation is an important measure to promote the adjustment and optimization of the industrial structure. The unbalanced industrial structure and low energy efficiency are the difficulties in achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in China. We must further leverage the driving role of energy conservation and efficiency improvement, strictly control the incremental amount, adjust and optimize the existing amount, accelerate the transformation and upgrading of industries, and promote the advancement of China's industrial development to the mid-to-high end.

Energy conservation is a necessary choice to alleviate the contradiction between energy supply and demand. From the supply side, China's energy supply capacity is continuously strengthening, but the phenomenon of extensive energy utilization is prominent, and energy security still faces great pressure. From the demand side, China's per capita electricity consumption is only 56% of that of OECD countries. With the acceleration of modernization and the improvement of people's living standards, China's energy demand will still maintain rigid growth. Faced with the prominent contradiction between energy supply and demand, it is urgent to take energy conservation as an important way to alleviate the contradiction between energy supply and demand and meet the growth of energy demand.

Energy conservation is an important source of cultivating new impetus for high-quality development. China has enormous potential for technological progress and industrial development in energy conservation. To achieve the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality as scheduled, we must vigorously promote technological innovation in the energy sector, promote the innovative development of energy conservation and emission reduction industries, and accelerate the green transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. The continuous formation of new development momentum in this process will also provide strong industrial and technological support for achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

02. Solidly Promoting Key Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Work during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period

The 14th Five-Year Plan period is the first five years for China to embark on a new journey of comprehensively building a socialist modern country and marching towards the second centenary goal. It is a critical and window period for carbon peaking. We must thoroughly implement Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization, earnestly implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, be based on the new development stage, comprehensively and accurately implement the new development philosophy, build a new development pattern, promote high-quality development, and effectively enhance the sense of urgency, responsibility, and mission. We must integrate energy conservation into all aspects and the entire process of economic and social development, vigorously promote structural energy conservation, technological energy conservation, and management energy conservation, accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of production and lifestyles, and help achieve the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality as scheduled.

Comprehensively plan the overall design of energy conservation and emission reduction during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. We will study and formulate, and submit to the State Council for issuance, a comprehensive work plan for energy conservation and emission reduction during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, clarifying the overall thinking, key projects, major policies, and supporting measures for energy conservation work during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. We will formulate and issue an implementation plan to strengthen energy conservation throughout society and promote carbon peaking, further detailing and implementing the energy conservation targets and tasks for the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Based on energy output rate as an important basis, we will decompose and implement the energy conservation targets for the 14th Five-Year Plan period to various regions, tightening and consolidating the target tasks to ensure that the goal of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 13.5% is achieved.

Strictly implement the dual control of energy consumption intensity and total amount. We will implement the work requirements of the "Scheme for Improving the Dual Control System of Energy Consumption Intensity and Total Amount," adhere to and improve the dual control system of energy consumption, strictly manage the binding indicators of energy consumption intensity, and reasonably control the total amount of energy consumption. We will improve the management measures for dual control of energy consumption, enhance the elasticity of total energy consumption management, and promote more reasonable allocation of energy resources and a significant improvement in utilization efficiency. We will strengthen the effective coordination between industrial planning and layout, major project construction, and dual control policies of energy consumption.

Resolutely curb the blind development of "high energy consumption and high emission" projects. We must place the resolute curbing of the blind development of "high energy consumption and high emission" projects in an important position in energy conservation work, as an urgent and top priority for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality work, and make great efforts to grasp, implement, and do well. We must resolutely eliminate "high energy consumption and high emission" projects that do not meet the requirements.

Vigorously promote energy conservation and emission reduction in key areas. In the industrial sector, we will deeply promote technological innovation in energy conservation and emission reduction in industries such as coal-fired power generation, steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials, petrochemicals, and chemicals, and comprehensively build a green manufacturing system. In the transportation sector, we will build a low-carbon transportation system, adjust and optimize the transportation structure, vigorously promote the electrification of the transportation sector, and promote energy-efficient and new energy vehicles and vessels. In the building sector, we will improve building energy efficiency standards, promote green construction processes and green building materials, and strengthen the demonstration of ultra-low energy consumption and near-zero energy consumption buildings. In the public institutions sector, we will implement energy consumption quota management and comprehensively carry out the creation of model energy-saving public institutions. In the new infrastructure sector, we will improve the energy efficiency of new infrastructure such as data centers and 5G, and accelerate the construction of green data centers.

Accelerate the research and development and promotion of advanced energy-saving technologies and products and equipment. We will leverage the advantages of the new national system and the role of enterprises as the main body of innovation, strengthen scientific and technological research and demonstration applications in energy conservation and emission reduction, and deploy a number of cutting-edge technologies in energy conservation and emission reduction research. We will accelerate the promotion of advanced and efficient energy-saving products and equipment and eliminate backward and inefficient equipment.

Deeply carry out a national action for energy conservation and emission reduction. We will strengthen national education on energy conservation and low carbon, resolutely curb extravagance and waste, and unreasonable consumption. We will guide enterprises to actively adapt to the requirements of green and low-carbon development. We will make good use of platforms such as the National Energy Conservation Publicity Week to increase publicity efforts on energy conservation and emission reduction, and form a new social atmosphere of green and low-carbon development.

Strengthen international cooperation on energy efficiency. We will actively publicize the tremendous contribution made by China's energy conservation to global sustainable development. Relying on mechanisms such as the construction of the green "Belt and Road" and South-South cooperation, we will promote the dissemination of advanced energy-saving technologies, products, standards, and business models, contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to global climate change response and energy efficiency improvement.

03. Continuously Strengthening Institutional Guarantees and Basic Support for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Work

In line with the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, we will strengthen policy coordination, improve the institutional system, and build a long-term mechanism. We will promote the modernization of energy-saving management, services, and supervision capabilities, and accelerate the formation of incentive and restraint mechanisms conducive to green and low-carbon development.

Strictly implement energy-saving targets and responsibilities. We will strictly conduct assessments of the energy consumption dual-control targets of provincial people's governments, and the assessment results will serve as an important basis for the comprehensive assessment of provincial people's government leadership teams and leading cadres. We will strengthen the monitoring and early warning of the progress of national and regional energy consumption dual-control targets, regularly release a progress report on the completion of energy consumption dual-control targets, provide guidance to regions with high warning levels, and urge regions lagging behind in the progress of energy consumption dual-control targets to control the pace of investment and construction of "high energy consumption" projects.

Improve energy-saving laws and regulations and standards. We will accelerate the revision of laws and regulations such as the Energy Conservation Law and the Energy Conservation Review Measures. We will launch a "100-item energy-saving and carbon reduction standard improvement action", and promptly revise a batch of national standards for energy consumption limits and mandatory energy efficiency of products and equipment, expanding the coverage of energy consumption limit standards.

Strengthen the construction of basic systems. We will strictly implement the energy conservation review system for fixed asset investment projects, strictly controlling the energy efficiency of newly launched projects from the source. We will strengthen the energy-saving management of key energy-consuming units, conduct in-depth energy-saving inspections, and strengthen the mid-term and post-event supervision of energy saving. We will promote the implementation of energy consumption budget management at the local level.

Improve energy-saving economic policies. We will improve price, tax, and financial policies conducive to energy saving. We will improve green electricity pricing policies with energy saving as an important guide, and strictly prohibit preferential electricity pricing policies for high energy-consuming industries. We will increase fiscal investment to support the construction of key energy-saving and carbon reduction projects. We will improve the green financial system to support eligible energy-saving and emission-reduction enterprises in listing financing and refinancing. We will accelerate the construction of a national energy rights trading market. We will encourage the energy-saving service industry to continuously innovate business models and service formats.

Consolidate the basic energy-saving capabilities. We will improve the energy measurement, statistics, and monitoring system, improve the energy consumption statistics system and indicator system in the industrial, construction, and transportation sectors, and gradually promote the sharing and application of big data resources in the field of energy saving and carbon reduction.

All regions and departments should more closely unite around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, adhere to the energy development strategy of prioritizing energy saving, be bold and innovative, work hard, and make solid efforts to deepen the revolution in energy production and consumption, promote the clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient utilization of energy, ensure the completion of the "14th Five-Year Plan" energy consumption dual-control targets, contribute to achieving the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and promote new progress in high-quality development and ecological civilization construction. (Author: Tang Dengjie, Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission)