Over 150 countries commit to carbon neutrality targets, report says

As of May, 151 countries have committed to carbon neutrality targets, with 120 of them legally enshrining these goals through laws or policy documents, according to the latest report.

The 2024 Global Carbon Neutrality Annual Progress Report, released by Tsinghua University on Thursday, showed that 151 countries have set carbon neutrality goals and 86 countries have outlined detained roadmaps, signaling an important shift toward implementation.

Renewable energy, a critical technology underpinning the carbon neutrality transition, is not growing fast enough to meet the COP28 target set in December, which called for a threefold increase in global renewable energy capacity by 2030, the report said.

Wang Can, an official with Tsinghua University's Institute for Carbon Neutrality, said if the historical growth rate from 2000 to 2023 continues, global renewable energy capacity will only reach 1.7 to 2.7 times the 2022 level by 2030, falling short of the threefold target.

"However, the report points out that the rapid expansion of renewable energy in 2023 provides some optimism that short-term trends could improve the likelihood of meeting this goal," Wang said when introducing the findings.

Zero-carbon technologies such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, and green hydrogen are being deployed at an increasing pace worldwide, according to the report.

In 2023, global sales of electric vehicles rose by over 30 percent, green hydrogen projects grew by 40 percent, and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects increased by 110 percent.

Despite these advancements, the scale of deployment remains insufficient to meet climate targets, Wang said.

Significant regional differences are seen in the adoption of these technologies. China, the US and the EU accounted for 70 to 90 percent of the deployment of renewable energy, electric vehicles, green hydrogen, biofuels, and CCUS, Wang said.

The report noted that China accounted for 50 to 65 percent of the EV production and green hydrogen capacity, while developing countries other than China contributed to less than 30 percent of the deployment on multiple technologies.

"While this concentration has led to technological advances, it also underscores the need for technical assistance and international cooperation to boost deployment in less developed countries," he said.

Moreover, the report indicates that although more countries are now disclosing their climate finance needs, the global progress in climate investment and financing remains slow, posing challenges for scaling up carbon neutrality efforts.

"We have noticed that some countries have increased tariffs on key renewable energy products, probably hindering the global diffusion of low-cost carbon neutrality technologies," Wang said.

Although notable progress has been made in setting carbon neutrality targets among different countries, gaps remain in the areas of policy, actions, and outcomes, the report showed.

Bridging the gap between progress and targets requires recognizing the diversity of each country's carbon neutrality pathways. Countries will need to tailor their approaches while still contributing to the broader global goal, the report said.

"The implementation of the goal is still a major challenge, with more than half of involved countries yet to establish a comprehensive policy system," Wang said, calling for common while tailored efforts.