On 9 March 2022, in line with the overall planning, coordination and management of the standardisation work for carbon peak and carbon neutrality, SAC set up the National Carbon Peak and Neutrality Standardisation General Group, and released the list of its members.

 

The General Group is responsible for putting forward recommendations on: the establishment of China’s carbon peak and carbon neutrality standards system; guiding the development of national standards (including national certified reference materials), standard application, implementation and internationalisation; coordinating technical feedback and suggestions of relevant standards; and providing support to ensure the technical consistency of carbon peak and carbon neutrality standards (including national certified reference materials).

 

According to SAC, the secretariat of the General Group is hosted in the Department of Transportation, Energy, Resources and Environment under SAMR’s Standardisation and Technology Division, and in the International Standardization Organization (ISO) Liaison Office under SAMR’s Standards Innovation Division. The members of the group include experts mainly from academic organisations and enterprise associations across various sectors, including energy, transportation, sciences and technology, agriculture, etc. The establishment of the General Group shows the Chinese government’s determination in accelerating the standardisation of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

 

The coverage of the General Group reflects the key tasks for carbon peak and carbon neutrality outlined in the Opinions on Comprehensively Grasping the New Development Philosophy to Improve the Work in Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality, jointly issued by CCP Central Committee and State Council. Specifically:

  • Promote comprehensive green transformationof the economy and society
  • Adjustthe industrial structure
  • Speed up the construction of a clean, low-carbon,efficient and safe energy system
  • Acceleratethe construction of a low-carbon traffic system
  • Improvethe quality of green low carbon development in urban and rural construction
  • Strengthen theR&D, application and promotion of major low-carbon technology
  • Promote carbon sinkcapacity
  • Increase the level of green and low-carbon development within the efforts for opening-up
  • Improve laws, regulations, standards and statistical monitoring systems
  • Improve policy formulation system