Xie Zhenhua, China's former special envoy for climate change, has underscored the pivotal role of developing transformative low-carbon energy technologies, saying it provides a vital guarantee for the nation's continued success in green transition.

He made the remarks in an open forum held on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, a high-level advisory body for the Chinese government, on Friday.

Held in Beijing, the forum is themed Technical Support and Rule of Law for Enhancing Co-control of Carbon Emissions, Pollution Reduction and Green Growth.

Stressing collaborative efforts toward carbon reduction, pollution control and green growth as the intrinsic requirements for achieving high-quality development, Xie noted outstanding achievements China has made in this regard, but also expressed concerns for challenges that may hinder the country to make further advancement.

For instance, last year China's installed capacity of wind and solar power accounted for more than half of the global total, Xie noted. In June, more than 4.3 million new energy vehicles were sold across the country and 605,000 ones were exported, increasing year-on-year by 35.1 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively.

Significant progress has also been made in air pollution control, he continued. From 2013 to 2023, the average concentrations of PM2.5 particulate matter and sulfur dioxide in China decreased by 54 percent and 81 percent, respectively.

Despite the progress, the proportion of heavy industries in China's industrial structure remains high and coal still dominates its energy consumption mix, he said.

He also noted that China is still confronted with unbalanced development in different regions, and the structural, fundamental and prevailing pressures related to ecological and environmental protection have not been fundamentally alleviated.

"The intrinsic driving force for the green transformation of China's economic and social development is still weak. The trend of ecological degradation in some areas has not yet been fundamentally reversed," he said.

All these make it challenging for the Chinese government to meet people's demand for a better environment, he stressed.

Faced with this situation, China must prioritize the synergy of carbon emissions and pollution control to promote green, low-carbon and high-quality development, he emphasized.

This can be achieved by optimizing the structures of the country's industry and transportation sectors, as well as adjusting its energy consumption mix, he continued.

Xie also underscored that technological innovation is needed as the "driving force and foundation" for the co-control of carbon emissions, pollution reduction and green growth.

The realization of the world's carbon neutrality target requires the net emissions of greenhouse gases worldwide to be reduced to zero, he said. This not only involves a fundamental transformation of the energy structure, but also includes deep emission reductions in various fields such as industry, transportation, construction and agriculture.

"Achieving this goal highly depends on widespread application of mature green and lowcarbon technologies," he underscored.

"We should prioritize consistent support for the advancement of groundbreaking low-carbon technologies, especially in crucial sectors like energy, renewables, nuclear, green hydrogen and circular economy, alongside the decarbonization of industries and transportation," he said.