999“Climate change is the only planetary-scale issue that can bring people with different positions to the negotiating table and foster collaboration. Carbon management is not a passing trend—it’s a century-long endeavor worth investing in.”
In 2009, at the age of 25, Yan Luhui packed his Master’s degree in Computer Science from Oxford University into his backpack and joined a UK-based carbon management consulting firm with fewer than 100 employees. That year, the global financial crisis had just swept through, and BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) was raising the banner of “mobile internet.” Few people paid attention to—or believed in—the future potential of “carbon management.”
Sixteen years later, the company he founded, Carbonstop, has become China’s hidden champion in the carbon management sector: serving over 1,400 clients, including Fortune 500 companies, governments, and NGOs; and in July 2025, it became the first in China to launch Carbon AI Agent—the country’s first AI-powered carbon neutrality intelligent agent—embedding “carbon” deeply into algorithms and code.
Every week, Carbonstop’s impact dashboard updates key metrics: the amount of carbon managed for enterprises, verified emissions reductions achieved, number of product carbon footprints calculated, and how many people have been influenced. This is Carbonstop’s real-time progress in using algorithms to combat climate change. Yan Luhui believes: “Carbon management is a century-long cause—the most critical thing is persistence.”
From Obscurity to the Spotlight
Southern Weekly: Why did an Oxford computer science graduate choose what seemed like a “niche” field—carbon management—at the time?
Yan Luhui: When I graduated, I used a “pyramid model” to evaluate job choices: at the base was passion—I needed to love what I did; the middle layer was social impact—it had to matter to society; and at the top was alignment with my skills and the potential for long-term, deep engagement. I joined a UK carbon management firm and worked on cutting-edge projects like the London Olympics carbon management platform and the EU Emissions Trading System. Through these experiences, I realized digital tools could dramatically improve climate action efficiency. I recognized its value and believed it was a field that would last a century. I wanted to apply my programming expertise to connect my work with both passion and purpose.
Southern Weekly: The early days of entrepreneurship were extremely tough. What kept you going?
Yan Luhui: In 2011, I returned to China and started Carbonstop in Beijing, renting an office to develop carbon management software. But at the time, Chinese enterprises had almost zero awareness of “carbon footprint,” and the company earned no revenue for nearly two years. I eventually had to give up the office and work from home. During that period, I attended UN online climate conferences and reviewed IPCC reports—not only to stay connected with global peers but also to deepen my professional understanding of climate change. These interactions reinforced my conviction that this was a sunrise industry: while economic cycles fluctuate and geopolitical tensions grow, climate change remains the only planetary-scale issue capable of uniting diverse stakeholders in dialogue and cooperation—and the carbon management field is measured in centuries, not years. That was the rational side. Emotionally, I’ve rarely abandoned anything I started. By then, I felt I was already on the path—“once the arrow is released, there’s no turning back.” The support of my family also gave me the courage to persevere.
Southern Weekly: After China announced its “dual carbon” goals (peak carbon by 2030, carbon neutrality by 2060), carbon management became a hot topic, attracting massive investor interest. How has Carbonstop’s positioning and strategy evolved—what has changed and what remains constant?
Yan Luhui: The announcement of the “dual carbon” goals was indeed a watershed moment. My phone rang nonstop—over 1,000 investment firms and media outlets reached out almost overnight. By then, we had already solidified our “Four-I” strategic framework: Marketization, Digitalization, Integration, and Internationalization—and that core positioning hasn’t changed. First, **marketization**: we remain market-driven, winning clients through transparent solutions. Second, **digitalization**: we independently develop carbon management software and leverage AI and other new technologies to boost efficiency. Third, **integration**: our services cover the full closed-loop chain—“measurement → reduction → supply chain → offsetting → disclosure.” Fourth, **internationalization**: while focusing on the Chinese market, we maintain a global outlook and serve multinational corporations and international institutions overseas.
What has changed is our internal management. As the company scaled and client demands grew, we established standardized systems and processes to improve operational efficiency through productized offerings. In project selection, we now prioritize industries with strong demand—those with high emissions, significant reduction potential, or broad societal impact—such as renewable energy companies, consumer goods brands with large carbon footprints, financial institutions, and tech firms. We aim to deliver landmark projects that inspire the industry and accelerate progress toward the “dual carbon” goals.
From Passive Compliance to Value Creation
Southern Weekly: How has the carbon management industry evolved in the five years since the “dual carbon” goals were announced?
Yan Luhui: Initially, many players rushed into the space—energy hardware companies, traditional strategy consultancies, and government-affiliated service providers. Around 2022, the number of firms exploded, but as the saying goes, “when something gets too hot, it dies.” That unsustainable frenzy has now given way to a market shift—from “bad money driving out good” to “good money driving out bad.” Early “resource-dependent” or “trend-chasing” firms relied on low pricing or connections to win projects but lacked solid product and service capabilities. They’re now being phased out. What remains are organizations that have consistently invested in refining their offerings and built genuine competitive advantages in their specialized domains. Today, talent who combine digital expertise with deep industry process knowledge remains scarce—yet precisely what’s needed for precise carbon management.
Southern Weekly: You’ve said corporate carbon management is shifting from passive compliance to value creation. How do you interpret this transition?
Yan Luhui: In the past, companies treated carbon management like “taking an exam”—producing a carbon report or obtaining a certificate to meet disclosure requirements, and then stopping there. But that’s just the starting point. Real value emerges when a company internalizes carbon management as a core capability: setting clear reduction targets, designing actionable pathways, and continuously managing carbon performance. Only then can its overall management quality and risk resilience improve, enabling better responses to customer and regulatory demands.
Take this example: a Fortune 500 company imposed strict carbon requirements on its suppliers, including CDP ratings and emission reduction targets. Initially, suppliers were confused. But years later, those who persisted became core partners—and looking back, they realized competitors had either disappeared or fallen far behind. By using carbon management as a tool, the company elevated its entire supply chain. Suppliers built digital foundations and professional teams, significantly enhancing their responsiveness—effectively strengthening their own competitive moats.
Southern Weekly: How do you view companies that approach you solely to improve their scores on EcoVadis, CDP, MSCI, or other ESG ratings?
Yan Luhui: That’s the most immediate and tangible need for clients. As a service provider, we must first address this near-term goal—otherwise, the “poetry and distant horizons” of building internal capabilities won’t even get off the ground. It’s like the college entrance exam: students wanting higher scores is perfectly understandable. But education shouldn’t exist just for scoring. If foundational competencies aren’t developed, long-term success in society is unlikely. Through our services, we help companies build three core carbon capabilities: 1) Establishing a complete carbon management framework and policies; 2) Cultivating internal teams who understand carbon and can manage it effectively; 3) Leveraging technology tools to continuously and efficiently manage carbon data and reduction performance. In this way, we transform surface-level rating improvement into genuine, internalized emission reduction capacity.
The Biggest Hurdle Remains Accurate Quantification
Southern Weekly: In your experience helping companies manage supply chain carbon, what’s the biggest challenge you’ve observed?
Yan Luhui: For most companies today, the primary bottleneck remains **quantification**—collecting and calculating carbon emissions data accurately and efficiently. This is still the area clients care about most and find most difficult. Challenges exist on multiple levels: First, **conceptual barriers**: the GHG Protocol’s Scope 3 covers 15 categories, and companies struggle to map these accurately to their own business activities. Second, **operational difficulties**: they don’t know exactly what data to collect, which internal department to contact, or which supplier to approach. Third, **inconsistent standards**: current calculation methodologies often lack universality and binding authority, leaving companies unsure which to adopt. Fourth, **data availability**: tracing emissions deep into supply chains is extremely hard—chains are long, fragmented, and obtaining primary “activity-level” data is immensely challenging.
Southern Weekly: When primary data is unavailable, what preparations are essential for estimating supply chain emissions?
Yan Luhui: First, **clarify accounting rules**: internationally, companies must first make every effort to obtain actual activity data from their supply chains. Only when such data is truly unobtainable or of very poor quality may they use recognized industry-average emission factors as a fallback—but this is a second-best solution, not the preferred approach. Second, **build robust database infrastructure**: national and industry bodies must lead the development of unified, authoritative foundational databases that companies can draw from. That’s why we built CCDB (China Carbon Database) and participated in the Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s calculation of grid-specific carbon intensity factors for electricity—public goods like these drastically lower the barrier and cost of corporate carbon accounting. Third, **define boundaries and priorities**: for companies with complex supply chains, it’s unrealistic to trace all tiers immediately. Start by mapping Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers clearly. For upstream raw materials (e.g., Tier 4 or 5), rely temporarily on globally accepted standard emission factors.
In summary, supply chain carbon management is a long and arduous journey. Companies must take the first step in data collection, standard-setters must provide clearer guidance, and governments must invest in foundational infrastructure. A few leading firms now manage down to Tier 3 suppliers, but most are still at the starting line—this is where the industry must focus collective effort.
From AI Agents to Consumer-Side Emission Reduction
Southern Weekly: What motivated Carbonstop to launch a carbon management AI agent? How will AI reshape the carbon management industry?
Yan Luhui: AI isn’t a gimmick—it must be rooted in real business scenarios. Developing an AI agent was a natural evolution of our DNA: combining deep technical expertise with profound carbon consulting knowledge. Our core strength lies in integrating software development, AI R&D, and domain-specific carbon insights. We’re currently focused on four high-impact scenarios—carbon footprint modeling, data management, CDP-assisted reporting and pre-scoring, and ESG report generation—all targeting enterprises’ most urgent pain points.
For example, in product carbon footprint modeling: to calculate the emissions of a bottle of mineral water—including all emission sources and their respective shares—AI can instantly pull from foundational databases and knowledge bases to generate an initial model with 70–80% accuracy. This frees consultants from tedious, repetitive tasks so they can focus on complex optimization and strategic planning. That’s where AI delivers real business value.
In the future, the core value of carbon consultants will lie in deeply understanding complex business logic, acquiring higher-quality data, designing strategic decarbonization roadmaps, and identifying or developing high-integrity carbon credits—higher-order work that AI cannot replace. AI will eliminate “assembly-line consulting,” but it will give rise to more “carbon strategists.”
Southern Weekly: Many believe weak green consumption awareness is why the market hasn’t yet pressured companies to accelerate decarbonization. How do you view the challenges of driving consumer-side emission reductions?
Yan Luhui: The biggest challenge is that low-carbon behavior isn’t a “must-have” for most consumers. Unlike health—which directly impacts personal well-being—environmental benefits feel abstract and distant. To drive change, we need to create a clear, self-interested rationale for consumers.
A successful precedent is the household appliance energy efficiency label. Consumers choose Grade 1 products because they directly link to “saving electricity → saving money”—a tangible benefit. Promoting consumer decarbonization requires a similar logic. If consumers earn carbon credits by choosing low-carbon products or adopting green behaviors (like sustainable transport or clothing recycling)—and can redeem those credits for real-life benefits (e.g., credit score boosts, priority access, discounts)—then low-carbon living shifts from an external obligation to an attractive, self-motivated choice.
Southern Weekly: How will Carbonstop advance consumer-side emission reduction?
Yan Luhui: Our mission is “to give every product a carbon footprint”—the essential data foundation for all consumer-side initiatives. Without it, carbon labels and carbon credits are meaningless. Consumer decarbonization can’t rely on preaching; it must be designed. We see ourselves as a “connector,” helping businesses quickly integrate into mature low-carbon ecosystems. By building a “carbon credit → real-world benefit” exchange mechanism across multiple scenarios, we aim to transform low-carbon action from a duty into an appealing lifestyle. This path demands patience—but we already see a clear direction and viable models.
Southern Weekly: What advice would you give young entrepreneurs interested in the dual carbon or ESG space?
Yan Luhui: First, **choose your direction wisely**—this is fundamental. Use the “pyramid model”: ask if you’re passionate, if it creates social value, and if you have the ability to excel. That’s the bedrock of entrepreneurship. Second, **persist**—this is key. Every entrepreneur who succeeds does so through unwavering persistence. But persistence isn’t stubbornness: test, iterate, and adjust your direction. Once you’re certain, focus wholeheartedly and let time be your ally. Third, **build the right team**—find people who genuinely believe in the mission. We actively seek individuals with everyday eco-conscious habits, because intrinsic motivation is the most sustainable driver. At the same time, we value diversity: some push innovation at the frontier, while others provide steady, reliable support. A healthy company needs both.
(This article is reprinted from Southern Weekly; author: Kang Hua; reprinted with permission from Southern Weekly. Unauthorized secondary distribution is prohibited.)
