In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
China has pledged to reach a peak in the nation’s economy-wide CO2 emissions by 2030 and to reach carbon neutrality by 2060. This study uses cutting-edge emission modeling tools to assess the potential for reducing climate pollutants from advanced policy packages compared with currently adopted policies for China’s transportation sector. …
China is currently the global leader in battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales annually, a position it has held since 2015 when it surpassed the US. The one positive policy priority in China’s COVID-19 recovery focused on transitioning the transport sector towards development of public transport systems and electrified transport. New …
To accommodate high shares of variable renewables in an effort to address global climate change, the future power system would require significant enhancement in grid flexibility. This report highlights the importance of sector coupling as a key source of flexibility that cities can explore to stabilise power grid operations when …
China’s southernmost province, Hainan, is in the process of becoming the largest Free Trade Port (FTP) in the world. This tropical island province has made environmental improvement its highest priority as it pursues development of the FTP. It envisions building a world-class environmentally friendly economy by 2035 to attract investment, …
During the past several decades, significant progress has been made in reducing global hunger and malnutrition. The number of people suffering malnutrition, however, is rising again. The hidden costs and externalities in the agrifood systems are among the major contributors to various economic, social, and public health crises including food …
The gap between real-world fuel consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide from light-duty vehicles (LDV), and their laboratory values, is increasingly apparent around the world, including in China. ICCT has been tracking the gap between real-world and type-approval fuel consumption of LDVs since 2017. This update reveals that the gap …
This report, An Energy Sector Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality in China, responds to the Chinese government’s invitation to the IEA to co-operate on long-term strategies by setting out pathways for reaching carbon neutrality in China’s energy sector. It shows that achieving carbon neutrality fits with China’s broader development goals, such …
The Yangtze river and the economic belt it defines are central to China’s economy, yet they face severe environmental challenges. The river plays a major role in the historical, cultural, and political identity of China, and is a key driver of the country’s economy. It is one of the world’s …
In Asia, where rapid urbanization is occurring, inadequate water and sanitation services are a problem due to insufficient investment. Asia’s urbanization rate has risen from 32.8% in 1991 to 51.1% in 2020, and more than half of the world’s urban population already lives in Asia. The Beijing Gaobeidian Wastewater Treatment …
In this paper, zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles refers to vehicles with maximum weight ratings greater than 3.5 tonnes (t) that are equipped with powertrain technologies that produce no tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants. ZE-HDVs are battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. This paper will cover freight-carrying heavy-duty rigid trucks …
A zero-emission zone (ZEZ) is an area where only zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), pedestrians, and cyclists are granted unrestricted access. Other vehicles are either prohibited from entering or permitted to enter upon payment of a fee. The growth of ZEZs could provide important support for the shift away from internal combustion …
In the past decade, China has rapidly become the world’s largest electric vehicle market, accounting for half of the world’s electric vehicle sales and more than 90% of the stock of electric buses and trucks combined. This accelerated growth is the result of targeted policy efforts at the national and …
This report analyses and compares the low carbon city policies and practices of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, with the goal of identifying sector-specific and city-specific good practices that may be instructive to researchers and policymakers in the wider NEA region. It examines key national-level carbon mitigation policies …
Energy service companies (ESCOs) deliver energy efficiency projects that are financed through the resulting energy cost savings. ESCOs can thus unlock energy efficiency action by addressing barriers related to funding and technical expertise. Despite their potential, many governments still struggle to stimulate development of a market for ESCOs. Evolving Energy …
This wide-ranging life-cycle assessment (LCA) examines the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of passenger cars, including SUVs. Performed separately and in depth for Europe, the United States, China, and India, the analysis captures the differences among those markets, which are home to about 70% of global new passenger car sales. It …
In December 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) of China updated the China IV emission standards for non-road mobile machinery. It set new requirements for particle number (PN) limits, the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking systems, and portable emissions measurement system (PEMS) testing for improved real-world …
For China to meet its climate goals under the Paris Agreement and its 2060 carbon neutrality target, it is estimated that the country needs to spend US$20 trillion over the next three decades across all sectors. As cities are the primary source of China’s carbon emissions, much of this investment …
The low-carbon transformation of China’s urban areas is a crucial action towards meeting the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal. In this policy insight, Jasmine Tillu presents the economic case for this transformation. There is a strong economic case for transforming the development trajectory of China’s cities. Urban infrastructure investments and spatial …
The City of Shenzhen has China’s, and the world’s, first and largest fully electric bus and taxi fleets. Shenzhen. Electrification of public transport provides an opportunity to achieve multiple objectives of low-carbon urban development, reduction of local air pollution, creation of jobs, and higher acceptance of public transport by residents. …
Since the 1980s, China has implemented a series of policies and regulations to address harmful diesel emissions, and this report is a comprehensive overview of the best practices emerging from the Clean Diesel Program. It provides a foundation for understanding potential areas where China could further reduce diesel engine pollution …
