On September 22, 2020, China announced its commitment to enhancing its nationally determined contributions, adopting more robust policies and measures, and striving to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. This represents a higher goal set by China on the basis of its commitment to the Paris Agreement, regarding the timing of peaking carbon emissions and achieving long-term carbon neutrality. China is also the first developing country among the major emitters globally to set a deadline for achieving carbon neutrality.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a global initiative launched jointly by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). It is part of the We Mean Business Coalition, a global business climate alliance. The Science Based Targets aim to help enterprises set scientifically grounded carbon reduction targets in line with a decarbonization pathway consistent with limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius. The initiative strives to make setting science-based carbon reduction targets the norm in business practice.