As the world seeks to increase ambition rapidly to limit global warming to 1.5℃,joint leadership from the world's largest greenhouse gas(GHG)emitters-the United States(U.S.)and China-will be critical to deliver signi...
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As the world seeks to increase ambition rapidly to limit global warming to 1.5℃,joint leadership from the world's largest greenhouse gas(GHG)emitters-the United States(U.S.)and China-will be critical to deliver significant emissions reductions from their own countries as well as to catalyze increased international action.After a period of uncertainty in international climate policy,these countries now both have current leadership that supports ambitious climate action.In this context,a feasible,high-impact,and potentially globally catalytic agreement by the U.S.and China to transition away from coal to clean energy would be a major contribution toward this global effort.We undertake a plant-by-plant assessment in the power sector to identify practical coal retirement pathways for each country that are in line with national priorities and the global 1.5℃ target.Our plant-by-plant analysis shows that the 1.5℃-compatible pathways may result in an average retirement age of 47 years for the U.S.coal plants and 22 years for Chinese coal plants,raising important questions of how to compare broader economic,employment,and social impacts.We also demonstrate that such pathways would also lead to significant emissions reductions,lowering overall global energy-related CO_(2) emissions by about 9%in 2030 relative to 2020.A catalytic effect from the possibility of other countries taking compatible actions is estimated to reduce global emissions by 5.1 Gt CO_(2) in 2030 and by 10.1 Gt CO_(2) in 2045.
As the largest emitter of greenhouse gas(GHG)now,China’s“long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies”(LTS)will be important to the success of the Paris climate goals to limit global warming to well...
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As the largest emitter of greenhouse gas(GHG)now,China’s“long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies”(LTS)will be important to the success of the Paris climate goals to limit global warming to well below 2 or 1.5℃by the end of this century.In September 2020,China surprised the international community by announcing carbon neutrality before 2060.
Clean air policies in China have substantially reduced particulate matter(PM2.5) air pollution in recent years,primarily by curbing end-of-pipe emissions.However,reaching the level of the World Health Organization(WHO...
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Clean air policies in China have substantially reduced particulate matter(PM2.5) air pollution in recent years,primarily by curbing end-of-pipe emissions.However,reaching the level of the World Health Organization(WHO) guidelines may instead depend upon the air quality co-benefits of ambitious climate action.Here,we assess pathways of Chinese PM2.5air quality from 2015 to 2060 under a combination of scenarios that link global and Chinese climate mitigation pathways(i.***.global 2℃-and 1.5℃-pathways,National Determined Contributions(NDC) pledges and carbon neutrality goals) to local clean air policies.We find that China can achieve both its near-term climate goals(peak emissions) and PM2.5air quality annual standard(35 μg/m~3) by 2030 by fulfilling its NDC pledges and continuing air pollution control policies.However,the benefits of end-of-pipe control reductions are mostly exhausted by 2030,and reducing PM2.5exposure of the majority of the Chinese population to below 10 μg/m~3 by 2060 will likely require more ambitious climate mitigation efforts such as China’ s carbon neutrality goals and global1.5℃-pathways.Our results thus highlight that China’s carbon neutrality goals will play a critical role in reducing air pollution exposure to the level of the WHO guidelines and protecting public health.
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