【Abstract】Urban agglomerations are not only an important carrier of mainland economic and social development, but also a key fulcrum for achieving high-quality development in the new development stage. Achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality not only involves all aspects of the continent's economic and social development, but also relates to urbanization and urban agglomeration development. Carbon peaking and carbon neutrality actions in urban agglomerations are of great significance for the continent to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality on schedule. It is necessary to deeply grasp the long-term trend and strategic role of the integration of urban agglomeration development into carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and attach great importance to and correctly understand the opportunities and challenges faced by urban agglomerations in the process of decarbonization and transformation. It is necessary to persist in standing in the overall situation of the national development strategy, scientifically plan the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality actions of key urban agglomerations, and coordinate the mutual promotion and interconnection between urban agglomerations and the national carbon peaking and carbon neutrality strategies; we must persist in standing in the overall development of urban agglomerations, scientifically plan the city's own carbon peaking and carbon neutrality action plans and routes, and respect the laws and differences of urban development; we must adhere to the principle of establishing first and breaking later, and balance the decarbonization transformation of high-carbon industries in urban agglomerations with the cultivation of zero-carbon and low-carbon industries; we must attach great importance to the zero-carbon and low-carbon industries of urban agglomerations. The low-carbon energy system plays a pioneering role in the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality action of the urban agglomeration; it is necessary to adhere to the principle of urban synergy and complementary advantages, and balance the relationship between the central cities of the urban agglomeration and the surrounding small and medium-sized cities.
【Keywords】Urban agglomeration; carbon peaking; carbon neutrality; realization path
【Author】Wang Junfeng Pei Zixuan
This article was published in Environmental Protection Magazine, No. 1-2, 2022
Striving to achieve carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 is a major strategic decision made by the Party Central Committee to coordinate the overall situation at home and abroad, and is related to the sustainable development of the Chinese nation and the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, a solemn commitment made by the mainland to the world, and embodies the responsibility of a responsible major country[1]. Achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality not only involves all aspects of the mainland's economic and social development, but also relates to urbanization and urban agglomeration development, which is an extremely complex socio-economic systemic change project, and the task is arduous and arduous. The proposal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals has not only brought new development opportunities to mainland urban agglomerations, but also brought new development challenges. Carbon peaking, carbon neutrality action and decarbonization transformation of urban agglomerations are of great significance to the mainland to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals on schedule, and it is necessary to attach great importance to and correctly understand the opportunities and challenges faced by urban agglomerations in the process of decarbonization transformation, and scientifically plan carbon peaking and carbon neutralization actions of urban agglomerations [2].
Deeply grasp the long-term trend and strategic role of urban agglomeration development into carbon peaking and carbon neutrality
Urban agglomerations are not only an important carrier of the mainland's social and economic development, but also a key fulcrum for the overall work of achieving high-quality development in the new development stage. The development of urban agglomerations has been raised to an unprecedented strategic height and is a major strategy for the socio-economic development of the mainland. At present, there are about 20 urban agglomerations in the mainland' key construction. Among them, after years of construction and development, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Chengdu-Chongqing, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and other urban agglomerations have a good economic foundation and strong radiation; the Shandong Peninsula, Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang coasts, the Central Plains, the Guanzhong Plain, the Beibu Gulf and other urban agglomerations are also developing and growing; in addition, the urban agglomerations such as Hachang, Liaoning Central and Southern Liaoning, Central Shanxi, Qianzhong, Yunnan, Hubao Eyu, Lanzhou-Xining, Ningxia Along the Yellow River, and the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains have also become important development groups [3]. These urban agglomerations are generally in a stage of rapid development, accounting for more than 75% of the country's GDP and maintaining a continuous growth trend [4]. In the medium and long term, the level of urbanization and economic strategic status of urban agglomerations are constantly improving, and they are rapidly becoming an important carrier of mainland social and economic development and an indispensable important fulcrum for future high-quality development.
Large-scale urban agglomerations have become areas with a high concentration of energy consumption and carbon emissions, and are the key and focus of the mainland's future promotion of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. As a form of spatial agglomeration of many cities, urban agglomerations have the characteristics of high economic density and urban population agglomeration. With the continuous advancement and rapid development of urbanization, urban agglomerations have become spatial areas where resources, energy consumption and carbon emissions are highly concentrated in mainland China. Urban agglomerations formed within the confines of large and mega-metropolitan areas contribute nearly 70% of the country's carbon emissions. With the in-depth implementation of the development strategy of the mainland urban agglomeration, it is expected that by 2030, the scale of energy and water supply required by the urban agglomeration will be further expanded. Therefore, promoting the high-quality development of urban agglomerations with the characteristics of decarbonization and pollution reduction, and gradually realizing the decoupling of urban agglomeration economic development from carbon emissions, has become an indispensable key link in the mainland's carbon peak and carbon neutrality action, and it is also a key area of work for high-quality development in the future.
Standing in the overall development of urban agglomerations, planning urban carbon peaking and carbon neutrality actions is an important measure to achieve complementary advantages and scientifically promote differential development. On the one hand, there are obvious regional differences in the development of urban agglomerations on the mainland. In terms of location advantage and economic scale, the central and western urban agglomerations are relatively weak compared with the eastern urban agglomerations. Therefore, when promoting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality actions in urban agglomerations, it is necessary to consider the development stages and external environments of different urban agglomerations. On the other hand, within the urban agglomeration, the economic, population and resource factors between different cities also vary greatly, and some cities have resource and energy advantages, and some cities have industrial and technological advantages. Therefore, it is necessary to stand in the overall situation of the development of urban agglomerations, make full use of the resources, technologies and industrial conditions of different cities, and scientifically plan urban carbon peaking and carbon neutrality actions, which is an important measure to achieve complementary advantages and scientifically promote differentiated decarbonization development.
High priority is given to the major challenges posed by carbon peaking and carbon neutrality actions in urban agglomerations
The lack of global carbon peaking and carbon neutrality top-level design of urban agglomerations has brought great challenges to the high-quality development of urban agglomerations. At present, in order to actively implement the deployment of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality of the party and the government, all cities are introducing corresponding carbon peaking and carbon neutrality planning plans and action routes. However, it is more from the individual city's own conditions and resource endowments, and is not conducive to crossing administrative boundaries, resource boundaries, geographical boundaries, from the overall level of urban agglomerations to systematically plan carbon peaking, carbon neutrality action. If there is no global carbon peak and carbon neutral top-level design of the urban agglomeration, then it will be impossible to connect the national carbon peaking and carbon neutrality actions, which will also increase the difficulty of implementing the urban carbon peaking and carbon neutral actions, which does not match the actual needs of the high-quality development of the urban agglomeration. Therefore, we should fully combine the characteristics of economic development and the distribution of resource endowments in urban agglomerations, formulate carbon peaking and carbon neutrality action plans suitable for each urban agglomeration as soon as possible, and make up for the strategic lack of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in urban agglomerations.
The high-quality economic development of urban agglomerations will face the huge challenge of long-term coexistence of energy growth demand and pollution reduction and carbon reduction pressure. As the main force of national social and economic development, the realization of high-quality development and sustainable development of urban agglomerations in the new development stage is still inseparable from the large-scale energy support, especially the stable incremental energy supply. Therefore, how to understand and solve the pressure and dilemma between energy consumption growth and carbon emission reduction in urban agglomerations, and explore a new path for the development of ecological civilization that decouples economic growth from carbon emissions in urban agglomerations, has become an important work and major challenge to promote the high-quality development of key urban agglomerations in the next stage.
The scale of carbon emissions expected by the peak of carbon in urban agglomerations is still large, and achieving carbon neutrality in the later stages is a huge challenge. At present, as the main force of national economic development, the carbon emissions of urban agglomerations are still climbing, and it is expected that the scale of carbon emissions at the peak will be very large, and it is still possible to maintain high-intensity emissions for a long period of time after reaching the peak. These emission trends and development factors will present major challenges for urban agglomerations in achieving carbon neutrality. Whether this challenge is handled scientifically and reasonably will also directly affect the timely realization of the country's carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Therefore, in the face of these challenges, it is necessary to pay attention to the carbon peak and carbon neutrality of the urban agglomeration as a whole, and carry out scientific and thorough top-level design and route arrangement at the overall level of the urban agglomeration in advance, so as to scientifically and smoothly achieve carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality.
There are spatial differences and uncertainties in the growth of renewable energy consumption in urban agglomerations, which bring great challenges to the realization of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals in urban agglomerations。 In general, compared with the western urban agglomeration, most urban agglomerations in the eastern region have poor renewable energy endowments, and the cost of utilization of their existing application technologies is high, and it is difficult to form a scale effect in the short term. In addition, considering the incremental factors of industrial and residential consumption, it is difficult to obtain a certain incremental energy consumption support from renewable energy in the near future. This will bring great uncertainty and great challenges to the control of fossil energy consumption in urban agglomerations in the process of carbon peaking. Therefore, from the perspective of the overall development strategy of the urban agglomeration, we should plan in advance the medium- and long-term strategy for the construction of the zero-carbon energy system of the urban agglomeration.
The risk of industrial high-carbon assets on a large scale in urban agglomerations has brought potential impacts and great challenges to the economic stability and security of urban agglomerations. At present, most of the carbon emissions of urban agglomerations come from industrial high-carbon industries, but confined to basic conditions, the existing industrial industry process technology can not only effectively support the realization of the near-term carbon peak goal of the urban agglomeration, but also cannot support the layout of the long-term carbon neutral action strategy. With the gradual emergence of a new trend of industrial investment and development oriented by zero-carbon and low-carbon technologies, existing industrial high-carbon assets will face market risks of gradual depreciation if they do not accelerate zero-carbon and low-carbon modernization, especially those high-carbon assets with low level, small scale and weak innovation ability. We should be highly vigilant and attach importance to the impact of this factor on the medium- and long-term economic stability and security of urban agglomerations, especially the potential impact and impact on the security and stability of key industries, key enterprises and key supply chains in urban agglomerations, and do a good job in risk prevention in key areas of urban agglomerations in advance.
Small and medium-sized cities in urban agglomerations face the great challenge of balancing short-term economic growth with medium- and long-term carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. The development of urban agglomerations is not only the development of central cities, but also the development of small and medium-sized cities and small towns. The central city has basically formed a development pattern dominated by modern service industries and high-tech industries. However, there are still huge differences between a large number of small and medium-sized cities and central cities, and the development of the economy, the expansion of employment, and the improvement of people's living standards are still the primary problems facing the majority of small and medium-sized cities, and they must balance between medium- and long-term carbon peaking, carbon neutrality goals and short-term economic growth. Therefore, in the process of planning carbon peak and carbon neutrality actions, urban agglomerations need to pay close attention to the development stage and development interests of small and medium-sized cities, and balance the relationship between the economic development of small and medium-sized cities and low-carbon transformation within urban agglomerations [5].
Scientific planning of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality actions in urban agglomerations
It is necessary to adhere to the overall situation of the national development strategy, scientifically plan the carbon peak and carbon neutrality action timetable, road map and construction drawings of key urban agglomerations, and coordinate their interconnection and mutual promotion relationship with the national carbon peak and carbon neutrality actions. It is necessary to attach great importance to the strategic role of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality actions in urban agglomerations to national carbon peaking and carbon neutral actions, especially from the overall situation of national carbon peaking and carbon neutrality action strategies, and scientifically plan the role and positioning of urban agglomerations. It is necessary to take carbon peaking and carbon neutrality as the core requirements and future guidance for the high-quality development of urban agglomerations, comprehensively promote the integration of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality strategies into the high-quality development of key urban agglomerations such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, pearl river delta and yangtze river delta, and scientifically and comprehensively promote the decarbonization economic transformation and low-carbon development of urban agglomerations. It is necessary to stand in the overall situation of the national carbon peak and carbon neutrality action, study and formulate the timetable, road map and construction drawings for carbon peaking and carbon neutral action of urban agglomerations as soon as possible, fully coordinate the interconnection and mutual promotion relationship between carbon peaking and carbon neutrality and high-quality development of urban agglomerations, and scientifically plan carbon peaking and carbon neutrality action plans that meet the development stage of urban agglomerations and are conducive to the high-quality development needs of urban agglomerations.
It is necessary to adhere to the overall development of the urban agglomeration, scientifically plan the city's own carbon peak, carbon neutrality action plan and route, respect the development laws and differences of the cities in the urban agglomeration, and vigorously and orderly promote scientific and stable carbon reduction. Different cities in urban agglomerations have different characteristics, and it is necessary to fully combine the actual situation, seize the differences in urban development, put the city in the overall environment of the urban agglomeration, formulate goals and paths that conform to the law of urban development, improve the implementation efficiency of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality strategies, and scientifically plan and orderly promote the realization of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. It is necessary to stand in the overall situation of high-quality development of urban agglomerations, properly handle the relationship between the development of a single city and the development of urban agglomerations, and resolutely abandon the way of thinking that the cities themselves are carbon peaks, carbon neutral goals and actions that are separated from the urban agglomeration as a whole. It is necessary to fully consider the industrial and energy bases and differences of different cities, handle the relationship between the overall carbon peak of the urban agglomeration and the orderly carbon peak of the city, scientifically plan the industrial decarbonization upgrade of the urban agglomeration and the construction of a zero-carbon energy system, and lead the economic decarbonization transformation and high-quality development of the urban agglomeration.
It is necessary to adhere to the principle of first establishing and then breaking, scientifically plan the short-term and medium- and long-term strategies for the decarbonization transformation of urban agglomeration industries, and balance the relationship between the decarbonization transformation of high-carbon industries and the cultivation of zero-carbon and low-carbon industries. It is necessary to grasp the overall, systematic and strategic characteristics of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality of urban agglomerations. It is necessary to have a correct understanding and profound understanding of the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality work carried out by urban agglomerations in stages, fields and levels [6]. It is necessary to grasp the core of the high-quality economic development of urban agglomerations, adhere to the principle of establishing first and then breaking, combining breaking and establishing, and scientifically planning the short-term actions of urban agglomerations and the strategy of medium- and long-term industrial decarbonization and transformation. It is necessary to balance the development relationship between traditional high-carbon industries and new industries with zero-carbon and low-carbon characteristics, increase efforts to cultivate and promote zero-carbon and low-carbon emerging industries, and at the same time scientifically and orderly promote the decarbonization and upgrading of high-carbon industries, and promote the coordinated promotion of the two.
It is necessary to adhere to the principle of co-construction and sharing, attach great importance to the pioneering and leading role of zero-carbon and low-carbon energy systems in urban agglomerations, and increase its strategic support for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality actions in urban agglomerations. Sustainable and secure energy supply is the lifeblood of high-quality urban agglomeration development. Urban agglomerations should plan from the overall situation and play a good game of zero-carbon new energy system construction. It is necessary to closely combine the energy needs of the high-quality economic development of urban agglomerations, make good use of the dual-control energy and carbon emission management systems, focus on solving the problem of zero-carbon and low-carbon energy supply that supports the development of the manufacturing industry in urban agglomerations, strengthen the construction of zero-carbon new power systems in urban agglomerations, attach great importance to the supporting role of energy storage links in power systems in urban agglomerations, and increase research and development of advanced and applicable technologies for energy storage and smart grids. It is necessary to scientifically plan the sharing, sharing mechanism and institutional arrangement of zero-carbon energy in urban agglomerations, and promote the large-scale application of photovoltaic, wind energy, biomass energy and other technologies。 Increase the innovation and demonstration of industrial process routes based on clean fuels such as hydrogen energy, and study and formulate a medium- and long-term development roadmap for industrial manufacturing, transportation and building facilities in urban agglomerations. Carry out intensive, intelligent and refined management of new energy systems in urban agglomerations, improve the level of system intelligence and energy utilization efficiency, support the research and development and promotion of electrification technologies in urban agglomerations, and comprehensively improve the electrification rate。 Increase the research and development and promotion of low-carbon and zero-carbon fuels for transportation. It is necessary to attach importance to the supporting role of the energy storage link of the power system of the urban agglomeration, and increase the research and development of key technologies around the commercial application of energy storage and smart grid.
It is necessary to adhere to the principle of urban synergy and complementary advantages, balance the relationship between the central cities in the urban agglomeration and the surrounding small and medium-sized cities, and scientifically plan the top-level design of the coordinated decarbonization transformation of the urban agglomeration. It is necessary to grasp the different characteristics of the central cities of the urban agglomeration and the small and medium-sized cities, give full play to their respective comparative advantages, determine the strategic positioning of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality action between the central city and the surrounding small and medium-sized cities from the top-level design level, establish a coordination mechanism for carbon peaking and carbon neutral action between cities, let the urban agglomeration play the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction on the basis of division of labor and complementary development, and jointly promote the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality action of the urban agglomeration. It is necessary to pay attention to enhancing the agglomeration and radiation functions of central cities in the field of carbon emission reduction, and promote them to become factor allocation centers, industrial diffusion centers, and technological innovation centers for decarbonization development in the surrounding areas of urban agglomerations. Surrounding small and medium-sized cities should seize the development opportunities brought about by carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, establish a cooperation mechanism for sharing superior resources with central cities around the low-carbon industrial structure, zero-carbon energy structure, low-carbon transportation system, low-carbon infrastructure construction, etc. in central cities, increase the cultivation of new industries, new technologies and new products related to decarbonization transformation, and scientifically and orderly eliminate backward production capacity with high energy consumption, high carbon emissions and high pollution.