Abstract:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the report of Working Group III of the Sixth Assessment Report “climate change 2022: mitigating climate change”. The report accessed and summarized the latest research progress on climate change mitigation since the release of the Fifth Assessment Report, which will provide an important reference for the international community to further understand climate change mitigation actions, system transformation, and the pursuit of sustainable development. The report pointed out that human activities had cumulatively emitted about 2.4 trillion tons of CO₂ from 1850 to 2019, of which 58% was emitted before 1990. In order to control the level of global temperature rise in the future, deep and immediate mitigation actions are required. In both low and minimum emission scenarios, fossil energy needs to be greatly reduced; renewable energy will be the mainstay of future energy supply; achieving carbon neutrality requires relying on negative emission technologies and increasing carbon sinks. Technological progress is one of the key conditions for helping the world combat climate change. Accelerated and equitable climate action is critical to sustainable development. The report’s conclusions once again show that China’s carbon neutrality target is in line with the mitigation path of the Paris Agreement’s temperature rise target of less than 2℃ and striving to achieve 1.5℃. In the future, China should strengthen special research programs on the national concerns and key contents covered in the report. While strengthening scientific interpretation and effective use of the report’s conclusions, it is also necessary to actively participate in the IPCC scientific assessment process, actively contribute Chinese wisdom, and contribute to the international dissemination of Chinese climate governance concepts.

Key words: IPCC WGIII, Emission status, Mitigation pathway, Technology approach, Climate action