Research on China's renewable energy policies under the dual carbon goals: A political discourse analysis

Abstract

The development of renewable energy (RE) is an effective solution to address the global greenhouse effect and climate change. China's government has enacted a series of RE policies that play an important role in regulating and developing strategy. The development of national RE cannot be separated from the multidimensional guidance and support of policies, and policy analysis can be one of the important indicators of energy industry trends. However, currently, few studies conducted to research whether these policies are performing their intended functions and roles in driving the energy transition. This study constructed a framework from the dimensions of text content and discourse function analysis and used NVivo12 software to analyze seven important renewable energy policy discourses (2000–2022) enacted by the Chinese government to summarize the word frequency of renewable energy policies and the discourse functions they perform. The study finds that China's renewable energy policies are mainly guided by five-year plans, the types of renewable resources are constantly improved, and the policies themselves play a strong role in promoting the achievement of the dual-carbon goal. Due to the RE policies' lack of top-level design; the future development of implementation policies should fully stimulate the initiative and enthusiasm of the main subjects, such as government, enterprises and the public, and promote synergy and cooperation among subjects. Accelerating the global cooperated low-carbon scientific and technological innovation is an effective means to break through technical constraints. Finally, the paper puts forward suggestions on China's renewable energy policy to implement the dual carbon goals during its 14th Five-Year Plan period.