Pop-science to help reach "dual-carbon" goal

The efforts of promoting public knowledge about "dual-carbon" via science-popping activities will help China to accelerate its process of reaching carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, experts say at a science and popularization strategy salon held by the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences (CSES) on Monday.

Chen Ling, Secretary General of China Science Writers Association, said that it is a good form of science-popping efforts to hold such salons and allows experts of various sectors to group together.

"It echoes the call of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to people technological progress via science-popping efforts," Chen said in the opening remarks of the salon.

Hou Xuesong, vice secretary-general of CSES, expressed the hope that more good researchers could join the cause of pop science so as to improve the quality of the job. "A precedent of gaining public support to policies is to let them understand the policies," he said.

"It is good if we cut carbon emission by a few percentages, but the public seldom cares about that; the public cares more about how the weather looks like today and whether they will benefit or suffer from it. It is necessary to show them what to do and link carbon emission cuts with their daily lives."

Jia Hepeng, a professor on environment and communication studies at Suzhou University, shared a survey done his team completed in April this year. Compared with the US, in China there are fewer people that refuse to believe in climate change, while the governmental policies generally get more support than in the US. That has laid a solider basis for implementing the carbon-reduction policies.

Jia pointed out that those who refuse to believe in climate change "coincide" with those who refuse to accept that smoking hurts health or that car emissions harm the environment.

Yuan Jiashuang, vice director of National Climate Center, said that pop-science on carbon emission should be paid more attention to, because it is an issue relating with so many aspects of the society. It is necessary for pop-science participants to update their knowledge so as to catch up with the latest trend.

Zeng Fanxu, a professor on environmental studies at Tsinghua University, talked about some shortcomings of the current public efforts. "Many people tend to put the picture of thin polar bears on melting ice while explaining the concept of climate change, but the issue is that people care little about polar bears, they care more about when the extreme heat will end." Zeng calls for more reader-friendly works that can touch people's hearts and truly move them.