Johnson Controls

Climate change, caused by greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere since the industrial era, has become an imminent global crisis. Since President Xi Jinping announced, at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2020, that China would reach carbon peak by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 (hereinafter referred to as the “dual carbon” target), clearly expressing China’s medium- and long-term decarbonization goals and determination, carbon peak and carbon neutrality have taken on unprecedented strategic significance in China and around the world.

As the largest developing country and the biggest carbon emitter, China is in a difficult position of having to continue developing while reducing emissions. Under such pressure, China’s achievement of the “double carbon” target requires joint efforts at the local and industrial levels, tapping into their respective emission reduction potentials, and dividing and implementing responsibilities at all levels.

According to the “Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 Vision” released in 2021, the target is to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 13.5% by 2025 compared to 2020, and CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 18% compared to 2020. This signals China’s intention to strengthen energy intensity control and means that China will promote high-quality social development through a “dual control” of carbon emission intensity and total carbon emissions.

This paper explores the unique challenges of China’s carbon neutrality by studying the experiences of 18 countries that have reduced carbon emissions, but sustained economic growth, as well as looking at how to break the barrier of carbon neutrality through the implementation of dual control at each level. From the perspective of dual control at the enterprise, regional and national levels, three policy recommendations are proposed: (1) For enterprises, encourage them to improve production efficiency and reduce carbon emission intensity by means of economic policies such as tax incentives and discounted electricity prices; (2) For industrial parks and local governments, remove barriers to cross-sectoral resource coordination by means of policies, exploit the potential of local renewable resources, realize regional comprehensive energy utilization according to local conditions and industries, and improve the efficiency of comprehensive regional primary energy use; (3) For the development of a national carbon trading market for the building industry, enhance the capability to measure carbon emissions in buildings, and create a data base for the establishment of the building industry’s carbon market.

Johnson Controls believes that the buildings as the main carriers of industrial and commercial economic activities, have the potential to drive the sustainable transformation of the whole economy. We will continue to use our building industry expertise to make further suggestions for China’s urban development and help China move towards a carbon-neutral future!

Download the full report：Step-by-step Implementation of the Dual Control Targets, Together for a Carbon-Neutral Future