Exploring Challenges and Drivers of Global CO₂ Neutrality at Tsinghua University Forum

Examining the Road to Global CO₂ Neutrality

On September 22, 2026, a high-profile seminar at Tsinghua University brought together international experts and policymakers to discuss the 2026 Global Carbon Neutrality Annual Progress Report. The report investigates the factors that can expedite or hinder the journey to CO₂ neutrality across 198 countries and regions.

This event was part of a series marking the fifth anniversary of the Institute for Carbon Neutrality (ICON) at Tsinghua University and the sixth anniversary of China’s dual carbon goals, coinciding with the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period. The seminar featured insights from government, academia, and international organizations. Notable speakers included Li Gao, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment; Zhang Laibin, Chairman of the Academic Committee of the China University of Petroleum (Beijing); Zeng Rong, Executive Vice President of Tsinghua University; and Erik Solheim, former UN Undersecretary-General and Executive Director of the UNEP, who delivered a video message. The seminar was chaired by He Kebin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Dean of the Institute for Carbon Neutrality at Tsinghua University.

Professor Wang Can from Tsinghua University presented the 2026 report, which is based on over 200 indicators to evaluate progress towards CO₂ neutrality across 198 regions, tracking developments and identifying the driving forces and barriers of the global transition.

The report identifies several key trends:

1. Emerging Transition Phase: A new era is dawning in the shift towards a low-carbon economy, increasingly driven by technological advancements but shaped by broader systemic conditions.

2. Advancement of Established Technologies: Mature technologies such as wind and solar energy, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles are gaining momentum and becoming more widely deployed.

3. Significant System-level Bottlenecks: Major challenges remain, including limited grid integration capacity, high financing costs, shortcomings in market mechanisms, and obstacles to international technology dissemination.

4. Commercialization Challenges for New Technologies: Emerging technologies like clean hydrogen and Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) face additional hurdles related to demand, infrastructure, and viable business models.

5. Particularly High Barriers for Developing Economies: These economies encounter even more significant obstacles, including steep financing costs, trade barriers, and insufficient system capacities to adopt and deploy green technologies.

The findings indicate a crucial insight: while technological costs are decreasing and adoption rates are accelerating, the pace and scale of the global transition depend increasingly on the synchronized development of financing, infrastructure, markets, and international cooperation alongside technological progress.

The full report can be accessed through the Global Carbon Neutrality Progress Tracker of Tsinghua University at www.cntracker.tsinghua.edu.cn.