China's Ambition for Energy Sustainability

The USA and China issued the Sunnylands Agreement ahead of the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28), which took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 30 until December 12, 2023. The world’s top carbon-emitting countries announced a novel economic growth and development stage during the summit. The new and updated agreement seeks to assess the global economic transition from energy models heavily dependent on fossil fuels to building further and strengthening the initial steps towards the green transition and climate change targets outlined in the Paris Agreement 2015. The world economies need to engage in a collaborative process that speeds up the shift from coal, oil, and gas generation instead of “phasing out” the fossil fuels altogether to avoid entering into an economic shock phase that will lead towards adverse spillover effects on the global economy. In a joint effort, the USA and China have vowed to continue investing in their efforts to support the implementation of the April 2021 joint Declaration from the US and China on Combating the Climate Crisis as outlined in the COP26 Glasgow Agreement for Advancing Climate Action in the 2020s. Ensuring the efficient execution of the Paris Agreement and associated decisions, including the COP26 Glasgow Climate Pact and COP27 Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan, remains a top priority for the world, as countries’ future is heavily reliant on the decisions made by the US and China. Despite scientific evidence signalling coal as a major polluter and source of CO2 emissions, coal remains a critical energy resource to support world economic development, particularly in the case of China, where coal accounted for over 50 percent of the total energy consumed in 2020. With global mounting pressures on energy transition requirements, the ongoing energy crisis and the rapid growth of industrial and urban development, the demand for energy in China will continue to grow, presenting a severe challenge to the country’s governing authorities for reaching carbon emission goals compared to other nations. By investigating China’s energy transition pathways, this chapter explores the country’s target’s feasibility of becoming “carbon neutral” by 2060 and the challenges ahead as the Asian economy’s historical connection to coal remains solid.