Push for dedicated climate change law
As global climate change enters a critical phase marked by intensifying extreme weather events, China reaffirmed its commitment to high-quality green transition and multilateral cooperation at a forum in Beijing on Monday.
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), China will expand its national carbon market to cover about 80 percent of national carbon dioxide emissions and push for the establishment of a dedicated climate change law, said Li Gao, China's vice-minister of ecology and environment, while addressing a side event held during the ongoing 2026 annual meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.
Li said the country's climate governance system has achieved a historic leap forward with the recent enactment of the Ecological and Environmental Code, which for the first time enshrines climate change response into national law.
In the first half of this year, coal-fired power generation fell below 50 percent of China's total electricity output for the first time, and the nation's production and sales of new energy vehicles have ranked first worldwide for 11 consecutive years, Li said, noting that these are major achievements of China's green transition and significant contributions to the global climate response.
He highlighted Linfen, a traditional coal hub in Shanxi province, as a prime example of integrating carbon reduction, pollution control, green expansion and economic growth. Through measures such as eliminating outdated production capacity, upgrading key industries, promoting clean transportation and replacing scattered coal with cleaner alternatives, the city achieved a nearly 50 percent reduction in average PM2.5 concentration by 2025 compared to levels in 2020, while maintaining one of the highest economic growth rates in the province.
"The international landscape has undergone profound changes, with rising geopolitical conflicts, escalating energy and supply chain risks, and increased unilateralism disrupting global trade," said Xie Zhenhua, China's former special envoy for climate change.
Xie noted that transitioning to a green and low-carbon economy is not only a necessary choice for addressing climate change, but also a vital pathway for driving technological innovation, fostering new economic drivers and improving development resilience.
"China has built the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy system and contributed nearly one-third of global clean energy investment," Xie said, noting that the country's green transition has enhanced its energy supply resilience and reduced reliance on imported fossil fuels.
Liu Zhenmin, China's special envoy for climate change, warned that the world is at a "tipping point" where the 1.5 C threshold set by the Paris Agreement is likely to be breached within a matter of years.
"The biggest challenge in the global green transition is not the lack of consensus on goals, but the deficit in implementation," Liu said.
Andre Hoffmann, co-chair of the board of trustees at the World Economic Forum, said that "China's green transition is now entering a more demanding phase in which the quality of its energy system, market institutions and investment conditions are becoming increasingly important.
"The question is whether the institutional and physical architecture of the transition is strong enough to sustain progress over time," Hoffmann added, underscoring the importance of its power grids, storage, energy efficiency and market reforms to keep pace with rapid deployment.
Sir Andrew Steer, a professor in practice at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said clean technologies have become cheaper than dirty ones, which means that the government's job is shifting from subsidies to creating a level playing field.
Steer noted that China is widely perceived as "an indispensable leader for the future of the planet", praising its experimental approach to integrating carbon pricing, regulation and market mechanisms.
