A charming view of the countryside of Taizhou's Xianju county, Zhejiang province. [Photo/VCG]

In December 2020, Chinese authorities announced that China will strive to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.

The 2021 Zhejiang Provincial Government Work Report, released at the fifth session of the 13th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress in the provincial capital of Hangzhou on Jan 26, presented Zhejiang's achievements in reducing carbon emissions over the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period and its goals in this regard over the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period.

The percentage of good-weather days throughout the year of 2020 seen in the 11 Zhejiang cities at or above prefecture-level was 9.5 percent higher than that in 2015.

Zhejiang's standard coal consumption per 10,000 yuan ($1,546) of the GDP stood at 0.37 metric tons, down from 0.45 tons in 2015. The province's forest coverage rate rose to 61.2 percent.

In May 2020, the province passed the national assessment to become the country's first exemplary province for ecological governance and preservation.

In the future, Zhejiang pledges to meet the national requirement for carbon neutrality by promoting a green and low-carbon lifestyle. The province aims for its non-fossil energy utilization as a percentage of primary energy utilization to rise to 24 percent, while the proportion for installed power capacity of coal-fired plants to drop to 42 percent by 2025.

By the end of 2021, the province's non-fossil energy utilization as a percentage of primary energy utilization is set to reach 20.8 percent, while the proportion for installed power capacity of coal-fired plants will decline by 2 percent. In addition, the province will accelerate its elimination of backward production modes and excess supplies, saving 1.8 million tons of standard coal consumption. Carbon emission trading will also be pushed forward in the province at a faster pace.

Zhejiang province pledges to lower the density of PM2.5 (particular matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometers), ensuring that the average concentration of PM2.5 in the 11 Zhejiang cities at or above prefecture-level is below 29 micrograms per cubic meter.