Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies

China’s declaration to the international community to peak CO₂ emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 is of great significance in advancing the objectives of the Paris Agreement, and has a positive and far-reaching impact on China’s high-quality development. This paper expounds on responsibilities and ambitions in tackling climate change, analyzes the high-quality development opportunities brought about by CO₂ emissions peak and carbon neutrality, and discusses the net zero carbon emissions transformation in the new era of ecological civilization. This paper is of the view that development towards net zero carbon emissions provides a new impetus for building a Beautiful China, and promoting ecological civilization and green development. The essence of carbon neutrality should be correctly understood so that the world will work together to improve climate resilience. China should also deepen the understanding of the principles and methodologies of climate change economics.

Cities today face significant difficulties and even risks due to the negative effects of climate change, uncontrolled urbanization, and rapid population growth. Many urban scenarios are being developed to mitigate potential risks and threats. One branch of these scenarios is built upon the concept of sustainability, for which the notion of “resilience” is of utmost importance. It is this notion of resilience that was examined in this study, based on the case of socio-ecological system features of Edremit, Van, Turkey. These features were evaluated in terms of changes that will potentially take place, and the analysis for this was performed using the Green Infrastructure Spatial Planning (GISP) method. In this approach, green infrastructure benefit criteria are mapped in the Geographic Information System (GIS) environment and various conclusions are drawn from the evaluation of these maps. The results of the study show that the green infrastructure systems of Edremit play an important role in providing a certain degree of resilience. It was, therefore, revealed as part of this study that measuring and evaluating the resilience properties of different cities is important. Also, urban policies and spatial strategies should be defined considering local characteristics and values as there is no one-size-fits-all solution in this regard.

Based on the logic of how the connotation of globalization has changed in different stages, we review the development process of practices and theories about global cities, extract a more general theoretical framework for global cities, and then propose a hypothesis about new global cities in accordance with the theory and historical logic. From the theoretical and empirical perspectives, we analyze the formation and characteristics of new global cities, evaluate them from a new perspective, and come to the following conclusions: Information technology (IT) and finance are becoming the leading forces of economic globalization; the superposition of cities’ functions as an IT center and a financial center has become the core feature of the new global cities; and new global cities can be divided into four levels, among which New York, Beijing, London and San Jose are at the top level.

The optimization of the spatial structure and layout is to determine an optimal and cost-effective land-use allocation plan for protected areas. The key goal is to maximizing the value of ecosystem services. This paper establishes a framework for optimizing the spatial structure and layout of the protected area based on ecosystem services. With the objective of maximizing the value of ecosystem services, it uses the CoMOLA (Constrained Multi-objective Optimization of Land-use Allocation) model for multi-objective optimization under the constraints of area and conversion rules. Taking the Yellow River’s headwaters region in the Three-River-Source (Sanjiangyuan) National Park as the study area, this paper uses the data of the year 2015 as a benchmark, and obtains the optimization results of the study area by 2035. The results show that the total value of ecosystem services of the Yellow River’s headwaters region after optimization will reach RMB $5.61\times 10^{10}$, with a total increase of RMB $43.84\times 10^8$ (8.47%). The land covers that contribute most to the value of ecosystem services are rivers, lakes and wetlands (51.55%), and grasslands (40.71%). Among the various types of ecosystem services, the value of provisioning services will increase by RMB $2.32\times 10^8$, regulating services by RMB $35.23\times 10^8$, supporting services by RMB $0.58\times 10^8$, and cultural services by RMB $5.70\times 10^8$. The research results can provide a scientific basis for the spatial optimization of protected areas and the management of national parks.

After setting the goal of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, it has become an irresistible trend for China to decouple carbon emissions from its economic growth. Since cities play a central role in reducing carbon emissions, the issues such as whether and when their carbon dioxide emissions can be decoupled from economic growth have become the focus of attention. Based on the carbon dioxide emissions of 264 prefecture-level cities in China from 2000 to 2017, this paper uses the Tapio decoupling index to measure the decoupling relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth of cities, analyzes the space–time evolution characteristics of carbon emissions and decoupling indexes by stages, and explores the relationship between carbon emissions and socio-economic development characteristics such as per capita GDP and industrial structure. The main conclusions drawn therefrom are as follows: (i) From 2000 to 2017, the city-wide carbon emissions rose from 2.484 billion tons in 2000 to 7.462 billion tons in 2017, registering a total increase of 200.40%. But the growth rate of carbon emissions within cities has been significantly reduced. (ii) As years passed by, the number of cities that achieved strong decoupling saw a significant increase, from zero in the 10th–11th Five-Year Plan period to 14 in the 12th Five-Year Plan period and the first two years of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, accounting for 5.3% of the total number of cities. (iii) There is an inverted U-shaped curve relationship between per capita carbon emissions and per capita GDP, which is consistent with the EKC curve hypothesis, but Chinese cities are still in the growth stage of the quadratic curve currently. The correlation between per capita CO₂ emission and the proportion of the secondary industry was positive. The results of this study are expected to provide experience for the low-carbon development of cities in China and other developing countries, and provide references for the formulation and evaluation of policies and measures related to low-carbon economic development based on the decoupling model.

China is one of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has been actively promoting the multilateral global climate governance process. China has advanced its eco-civilization construction and the agenda for combating climate change in a coordinated manner, and delivered positive results. By studying and interpreting the guiding principles of President Xi Jinping’s important speeches at the Leaders Summit on Climate and the video summit between China, France and Germany, this paper goes over the basic thinking of China’s participation in international climate governance and the Chinese approach to tackling global climate change, and sums up China’s achievements in the fields such as transition to green and low-carbon development, energy structure adjustment, greenhouse gases control, the construction of national carbon market, as well as its contribution to tackling global climate change.

China aims to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. It is a strategic decision made after deliberate consideration by the Central Government. Such goals reflect China’s responsibility as a major country in responding to global climate change, its vision of the future world development, and its commitment to green transformation. After the 18th CPC National Congress, China has undergone a fundamental change in its development philosophy. Protecting the environment is no longer regarded as a burden upon economic growth, but as a driving force for high-quality development. Emissions reduction has also changed from a task inflicted upon local governments to a goal people identify with. More than 120 countries have proposed carbon neutrality targets in different ways by now. The global consensus on carbon neutrality marks the end of the traditional industrial era and the start of a new development era. The concept of carbon neutrality redefines and reshapes the entire development paradigm. It is a self-revolution of the mode of production and life. It not only poses an unprecedented challenge but also provides a strategic opportunity for China. China is likely to lead the world in future green transformation and global climate governance.