Dear Colleagues,

Statistics from UNFCCC shows that more than 120 countries or regions worldwide have mentioned carbon neutrality, climate neutrality, net zero emissions or net zero carbon emissions in relevant documents, among which 29 (including 27 EU countries) have provided official commitments through formal channels, covering more than 50% of global carbon emissions. How to achieve carbon neutrality is a major issue for society today, by which conditions and supports for the global realization of the 2 °C and 1.5 °C goals can be strongly reinforced. Researchers and scholars need to provide a scientific basis for policymakers to formulate effective and feasible plans to reduce emissions and achieve low-carbon transition.

Most of the aforementioned economies with commitments propose to achieve net zero around the middle of the century. Although the realization of the goals will face many challenges, it will also bring unprecedented opportunities, including reducing air pollution, improving health and safety, facilitating long-term development in the field of new technologies, promoting environmental protection, and making contributions to global climate change governance. The realization of low carbon transition will improve social welfare and help the country to build a harmonious and friendly environment, simultaneously achieving technological and economic development for both developed countries and emerging economies. In the process, it is important to act as early as possible, where the following strategies, including sustainable energy consumption, electricity decarbonization, electrification, low-carbon fuel conversion, the use of negative emission technologies, etc., play an important role.

The objectives of this Special Issue will be on where the whole world shall go for low-carbon transition, and how countries or regions would find the economically feasible pathways. We welcome papers on both theoretical and empirical research topics, including but not limited to:

• Technology potential, key policy options, and feasibility analyses;
• Clean investment: Climate policy incentives and long-run returns;
• Green investment and green consumption;
• Environmental regulation and socioeconomic development;
• Energy, environmental, and economic sustainability in emerging economies;
• Outsourcing and spillovers of green innovation towards green future;
• Collaborative or non-collaborative paths of climate governance;
• Resource constraints for energy restructuring and green future;
• Role of technology options in economic inequality and poverty.

Prof. Dr. Hongbo Duan
Prof. Dr. Xiuting Li
Prof. Dr. Yi Hu
Guest Editors

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• energy transition
• green economy
• climate change
• resource constraints