Editor's note: In late September, China's announcement that it aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 took many by surprise. According to the just-concluded fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), realizing a green and sustainable development is an important goal for the country's next-stage development. Chen Baiping, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group which has recently produced a report advising China on its decarbonization efforts, shares his take on why this is significant and how China can achieve this goal. Views expressed in this article are Chen's, and not necessarily those of CGTN.

CGTN: How significant is China's 2020 carbon neutrality pledge?

Chen Baiping: It is the first-ever commitment and pledge by the Chinese government with a very specific target. It is significant because of the magnitude of change and the investment required. It also indicates a shift of how China will grow its economy; therefore it would have implications on all industries and people. It also indicates a significant enhancement of the partnership model, whereby different countries will work together to curb carbon emissions.

CGTN: What drastic changes will China have to implement to reach this goal? And what do you think are the most critical measures?

Chen: The challenges are definitely there, obviously. From the investment perspective, we estimated that about 90 to 100 trillion RMB ($13.46 trillion to $14.95 trillion) are needed in investment, which essentially accounts for about 2 percent of the cumulative GDP between 2020 and 2050.

It is really critical for the energy sector to go through the decarbonization process, which actually contributes to the majority of over 50 percent of the carbon reduction efforts. The most critical measures, obviously would be to increase the use of renewable energy to the extent that is possible. The remaining parts would be compensated by the increased use of nuclear energy, where there are obviously concerns. China needs to have more technological advances to assuage these kinds of concerns and limitations.

CGTN: What advantages do you think China has in achieving this goal?

Chen: In many ways, China has made quite a bit of progress already in the last 5 to 10 years. For example, the renewable energy has progressed significantly. China now accounts for 45 percent of the global supply of photovoltaic capacity and 35 percent of the global wind power.

From an industry perspective, we've also seen significant progress due to new standards that are being set up and implemented and because of different capacities that are being reduced or upgraded. For example, in the last five to 10 years, we've reduced 12 percent of the iron producing capacity. With such a reduction, we're going to increase our energy efficiency. So we've built quite a good foundation already, which will be the basis for us to make further changes going forward.

CGTN: China's transition to a green economy will involve a big shakeup of certain domestic industries and sectors, which in the short term may affect the country's economic growth. Do you think China will be able to balance its concern for economic growth and its long-term decarbonization goal?

Chen: The transition will be painful and strenuous. However, we think with good planning, we can make the process smoother. This really speaks to the importance of long-term planning. We really need to understand what the exact impact will be on different industries and companies, when this impact will hit relevant industries or companies, as well as the different options they can choose from. The Chinese government has demonstrated wisdom in many of the past economic or societal changes. With practicality and determination from the Chinese government, we think we can make the process smoother.

Interviewer and managing editor: Xu Sicong

Video editor: Liu Shasha

Senior producer: Wei Wei

Managing director: Mei Yan

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)