On October 17th, the “2024 Global Carbon Neutrality Annual Progress Report” was officially released in Beijing.

With global temperatures consistently reaching new highs and an increase in extreme weather events, the threats to natural ecosystems, social productivity, and human health have become severe. As a result, actively addressing climate change has emerged as a shared objective across the globe.

To systematically assess the progress of global carbon neutrality efforts, a team led by Professor Wang Can from Tsinghua University’s Carbon Neutrality Research Institute, in collaboration with researchers from the University’s Department of Earth System Science and China University of Petroleum (Beijing), supported by Tencent SSV and numerous experts, compiled the report. This year marks the first annual update to the “Global Carbon Neutrality Progress Assessment Report,” enhancing the quantitative indicator system of “Goals – Policies – Actions – Outcomes” established in the 2023 report. It evaluates the progress of 197 countries in areas like carbon neutrality commitments, low-carbon technologies, climate finance, and international climate cooperation.

During the launch event, lead author Professor Wang Can highlighted the report’s key findings and features. This year’s report continues to assess the progress of various countries on carbon neutrality goals, technology, funding, and international collaboration, while further refining the quantitative indicator system. It utilizes model evaluations to measure the effectiveness and impact of carbon neutrality policies, tracks actual progress, and identifies the opportunities and challenges faced by different nations. The report also identifies discrepancies between existing actions and global carbon neutrality goals and conducts specialized studies on the legal and technical support necessary for this transition, introducing two new special topics on renewable energy and climate legislation.

The report emphasizes that the global carbon neutrality process is transitioning from goal-setting to implementation. While significant progress has been made towards carbon neutrality targets, there remains ample room for improvement in policies, actions, and outcomes. The current pace of technological development, the scale of climate finance, and the state of international cooperation are insufficient to meet carbon neutrality targets. Bridging the gap between global progress and objectives will require enhancements in technology, financing, and institutional frameworks. Achieving global carbon neutrality calls for “common but differentiated” actions that respect the diverse pathways countries may take, considering their resource endowments, stages of development, legal systems, and technological routes. Moreover, strengthening information disclosure and evaluating technology and funding needs, alongside various forms of international collaboration, is essential for promoting the effective spread of advanced low-carbon technologies worldwide.