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© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Tsinghua University, Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development,
Tsinghua University (eds.), China’s Resources, Energy and Sustainable Development: 2020
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6100-3_1
1. China’s Energy Transition Strategy in
the Context of Global Climate Change
Linwei Ma
1
, Christine Y uan
2
and Honghua Yang
1
Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University,
100084 Beijing, China
Corporate Relations, Rio Tinto China, 100004 Beijing, China
Linwei Ma
Email:
[email protected]
Abstract
Worsening climate change has brought grave challenges to global energy
development. All countries need to make urgent joint actions to speed up
low-carbon transition of the energy sector. China, as the largest energy-
related greenhouse gas emitter, plays a crucial part in global low-carbon
energy transition. Clear strategic guidance is one of the indispensable
factors for the country’s successful transition. With the integration of
energy system in mind, this chapter builds on the basic concepts of
energy transition strategy and framework of system analysis to elaborate
on China’s energy transition strategy amid global climate change. The
chapter contains three sections: energy challenges in China, the history,
recent trends and future path of China’s energy system, and policy
recommendations for energy governance and energy markets. Overall, the
challenge of China’s energy transition in the context of global climate
change lies not only in the call to expedite carbon emission reductions in
the energy system, but also in the need to address other energy issues
such as energy equity, energy security, and environmental protection. To
solve all these issues, it must consider the unique evolution and changing
pattern of China’s energy system itself, follow the mechanism, and