Ahead of COP29, which opened in Baku, Azerbaijan, on November 11, China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) released "Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change (2024)," demonstrating the effectiveness of policies, actions, and achievements in addressing climate change since 2023.

In 2023, China vigorously promoted the reduction of carbon emission intensity, with non-fossil energy accounting for 17.9 percent of total energy consumption. The installed renewable energy capacity exceeded 1.5 billion kW, accounting for more than 50 percent of the country's total installed power generation capacity.

The level of green and low-carbon transportation continued to improve. According to the report released on November 6, in 2023, the number of new energy vehicles reached 20.41 million, and the charging infrastructure increased by 3.38 million units, an increase of 30.6 percent year on year.

The carbon sink capacity of ecosystems also improved. Preserved plantation area reached 1.3 billion mu, forest coverage was 24.02 percent, and the comprehensive vegetation coverage of grasslands was 50.32 percent.

Since 2012, more than 3,400 wetland protection projects have been implemented, and more than 0.8 million hectares of wetlands have been added and restored.

The national carbon emission trading market is important for realizing the national determined contribution to climate change.

"Since the launch of the national carbon emission trading market in July 2021, the cumulative trading volume of carbon emission allowances has approached 500 million tons, with a transaction value of 29.7 billion yuan, showing a steady upward trend in trading prices," Xia Yingxian, director of MEE's department of climate change, said.

Addressing climate change is the common cause of humankind, Xia said, adding that China has carried out in-depth South-South cooperation on climate change to help least developed countries, African countries, small island states and others improve their ability to cope with climate change.

By the end of June 2024, China had signed 52 South-South cooperation documents on climate change with 42 other developing countries and carried out a series of assistance and exchanges to support them in enhancing their coping capacity.