19801 China's Special Envoy for Climate Change Wins Nobel Prize for Special Contribution to Sustainable Development
On February 21st, local time, Peter Nobel, chairman of the Nobel Sustainability Foundation, announced that the inaugural Special Contribution Award for Sustainable Development would be awarded to Xie Zhenhua, China's Special Envoy for Climate Change, in recognition of his significant contributions to global efforts against climate change and sustainable development. The Chinese Ambassador to Sweden, Cui Aimin, attended the award ceremony.
Xie Zhenhua called on society to participate in the transformation and innovation towards green and low-carbon development, establishing green, low-carbon, and sustainable production, living, and consumption patterns, and leaving future generations a planet rich in resources, vibrant with life, and clear of pollution. He announced that he would donate all the prize money to public welfare causes for sustainable development.
The Nobel Sustainability Foundation was established in Switzerland in 2007 by Michael Nobel, then head of the Nobel family, along with three other family members. It is dedicated to promoting the concept of sustainability globally and established the Special Contribution Award for Sustainable Development in 2022.
02 Recycling Rate of Supplies for Hangzhou Asian Games to Exceed 50%
Recently, Zhejiang Province issued the "Action Plan for a Waste-Free Asian Games," which stipulates that the recycling rate of supplies used during the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games will be no less than 50%.
According to the plan, Zhejiang Province will promote source reduction across all sectors, including implementing green accommodation, advocating frugal dining, promoting paperless events, and promoting the use of renewable materials. Goals include reducing per capita food waste in the Asian Village by more than 20% compared to similarly sized events, and ensuring that 70% of licensed merchandise and venue decorations are made from recyclable (renewable) materials.
Additionally, to control pollution risks throughout the event, the plan includes tasks such as enhancing waste classification and disposal, managing hazardous waste pollution risks, and establishing an emergency response coordination mechanism. Requirements include daily clearance of household waste during the event, risk management plans for enterprises handling flammable, reactive, and highly toxic hazardous wastes, and controlling hazardous waste inventory to no more than 50% of capacity 30 days before the event.
03 Shaanxi Issues Carbon Peak Implementation Plan, Targets Non-Fossil Energy Consumption Ratio of 16% by 2025
The Shaanxi Provincial Government recently issued the "Shaanxi Carbon Peak Implementation Plan," proposing that by 2025, the province's non-fossil energy consumption ratio will reach around 16%; by 2030, it will reach around 20%, achieving the goal of carbon peaking before 2030.
The plan proposes accelerating the establishment of a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient energy system, promoting the clean and efficient utilization and transformation of fossil fuels, vigorously developing non-fossil energy sources, advancing the construction and application of diverse storage systems, accelerating the development of a new power system, and optimizing and improving power infrastructure. Efforts will also deepen energy conservation, carbon reduction, and efficiency improvements, implementing key projects for energy conservation and carbon reduction, strengthening energy management for major energy-consuming units, and promoting energy efficiency improvements for key energy-consuming equipment.
04 Xiamen Takes the Lead in Issuing Rural ESC Standards System
Through technical cooperation with the Green Finance Team of Central South University, the Xiamen Property Rights Exchange Center (Xiamen Carbon and Emission Trading Center) formulated and issued a standards system suitable for rural areas, known as the ESC standards system, encompassing Environment (E), Society (S), and Rural Governance (C).
The rural ESC standards system covers multidimensional indicators including climate change, rural environmental protection, and digital village construction, shifting from traditional single-dimensional evaluations to a multidimensional effectiveness evaluation system covering environment, society, and governance. Its main highlights include "standardization, ecologicalization, and digitization," transforming the development level and performance of rural environments, society, and governance into measurable, calculable, and comparable data.
05 Publication and Distribution of "Compilation of Policies on Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality"
The book "Compilation of Policies on Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality," organized and compiled by the Office of the Working Group on Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality, has been officially published by the China Planning Press and distributed nationwide.
This book compiles existing and publicly available "dual carbon" policy documents from various departments and regions, serving as a reference for government departments, enterprises, research institutions, and others to learn about and understand "dual carbon" policies.
The "Opinions on Fully, Accurately, and Comprehensively Implementing New Development Concepts and Doing Well in Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Work" issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, the "Action Plan for Carbon Peak Before 2030" issued by the State Council, and the implementation plans and support schemes for various sectors and industries formulated by relevant departments have collectively formed the "1+N" policy system for carbon peak and carbon neutrality.
06 The Second China Digital Carbon Neutrality Summit to Open Soon
The second China Digital Carbon Neutrality Summit will be held on February 25th in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
The summit is guided by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the People's Government of Sichuan Province, and is jointly organized by the Information Development Bureau of the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Publicity and Education Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the China Internet Development Foundation, the China Environmental Protection Federation, the Cyberspace Administration of Sichuan Province, the Economic Cooperation Bureau of Sichuan Province, and the People's Government of Chengdu City.
The theme of the forum is "Digital Leadership, Green Development." During the event, there will also be an exhibition showcasing the results of the "Digital Space Green and Low-Carbon Action," featuring outcomes from 20 entities and enterprises in fields such as automotive, IT, finance, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and internet platforms, highlighting their explorations and practices in digital and green coordinated development over the past year.
07 Supreme Court Issues Judicial Opinion to Combat Greenwashing and Green Drifting in Capital Markets
Recently, the Supreme People's Court released the "Opinion of the Supreme People's Court on Fully, Accurately, and Comprehensively Implementing New Development Concepts and Providing Judicial Services for Actively and Steadily Advancing Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality."
The opinion states that courts should strengthen corporate environmental responsibility awareness and legally require companies to disclose environmental information, effectively curbing illegal activities such as greenwashing and green drifting in capital markets.
According to Sun Qian, a senior judge at the Third Level of the Environmental Resources Division of the Supreme People's Court, since China signed the Paris Agreement in 2016, courts at all levels across the country have adjudicated nearly 1.12 million cases involving carbon-related issues.
Among these, 900,000 cases involved energy structure adjustments, accounting for 80.4%; 15,000 cases involved green economic transitions, accounting for 1.4%; 130,000 cases involved industrial structure adjustments, accounting for 11.9%; 600 cases involved carbon market transactions, accounting for 0.06%; and 69,000 other carbon-related cases, accounting for 6.2%.
