Towards a just Chinese energy transition: Socioeconomic considerations in China's carbon neutrality policies

Abstract

Many countries have been actively implementing carbon neutrality initiatives. In September 2020, China, which is the second-largest economy and the top carbon emitter, publicly committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2060. This paper presents a novel bibliometric visualisation analysis of the carbon neutrality policies developed in China to investigate the topics of these policies and determine whether China can achieve a just energy transition (JET). The results show that socioeconomic factors are insufficiently considered in the selected policies, which leads to conclusions about what insights are still needed to understand a JET in the pursuit of carbon neutrality and ensure that no one is left behind. Accordingly, this paper presents several policy implications for increasing social justice and achieving a better, more just energy transition. This work may inspire scholars and policymakers in China and other countries to pay more attention to the unemployment of vulnerable groups and other social justice issues. Moreover, this paper provides an opportunity to expand the academic horizon of the JET as a research field.