Research on green and low-carbon development pathways for China’s coal industry under the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality

To address the challenges posed by global climate change, China has proposed the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals and strategies. Government oversight and public attention have reached unprecedented levels, placing high-carbon industries under immense pressure to transform. How to transform the coal industry into a green and low-carbon development path has become a major issue that urgently needs to be addressed. Through in-depth observation and analysis of the current state of green and low-carbon development in the coal industry, this paper identifies key challenges, including insufficient technological innovation in green and low-carbon coal, inadequate economic viability and market incentives, systemic and regional imbalances, and incomplete policy and standards framework. Addressing these challenges, the paper systematically proposes practical development pathways across multiple dimensions: enhancing technological innovation capabilities, strengthening transformation willingness and market incentives, promoting balanced systemic and regional development, and improving policy and standard frameworks, aiming to provide theoretical and practical guidance for advancing green, low-carbon and high-quality development in China's coal industry.