Strategies for Achieving Carbon Neutrality in Chinese Metropolitan’s Industrial Development: A Case Study of Chongqing in China

Abstract

Chongqing, the largest industrial city in China’s western region and a significant modern manufacturing base, serves as the focus of this paper. This study investigates Chongqing’s socio-economic development, urban and rural spatial patterns, population distribution, industrial structure, energy structure, low-carbon technologies, and policies from multiple dimensions. Utilizing a combination of top-down and bottom-up methodologies, the research establishes the Chongqing Low Emissions Analysis Platform (CQ-LEAP) for industrial sectors. The analysis encompasses energy demand and carbon emission trends in Chongqing’s industrial sector from 2020 to 2060 across three scenarios: the reference scenario, the positive peak - 2060 near-zero-emissions scenario, and the accelerated peak - 2060 net-zero emissions scenario. The study explores potential pathways and breakthroughs for achieving net-zero emissions in Chongqing, with a particular focus on key policy areas during China's "15th Five-Year Plan" period, aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral emission trajectory. Additionally, it summarizes replicable and promotable experiences, providing decision-making guidance for accelerating green and low-carbon transformations and sustainable development in industrial cities.

Received: 26 July 2024 | Revised:10 January 2025 | Accepted: 29 April 2025

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data are available on request from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Author Contribution Statement

Chunyan Dai: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Jing Zhang: Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Data Curation, Writing - original draft, Visualization. Shiyan Chang: Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Writing - review & editing. Hao Meng: Conceptualization, Validation, Writing - review & editing.