China’s Low-carbon Policy Change Model for Carbon Neutrality: From the Perspective of Policy Network

Climate governance and the realization of the dual carbon goals constitute a complex policy issue characterized by dynamism and cross-sectorality. Clarifying the evolutionary patterns of China’s low-carbon policies based on a multidimensional policy network perspective provides a scientific foundation for optimizing policy design. Taking central-level low-carbon policy texts in China from 2009 to 2023 as its research object, utilizing social network analysis and content analysis, “actor-actor” and “actor-instrument” policy networks were constructed to reveal policy evolution patterns. The results show that China’s low-carbon policy actor network configuration has evolved along the path of: “loose type-center & periphery type-dispersed & coupling type-coordinated type"; policy instruments have shifted from primarily carrot-type incentive tools focused on encouragement and guidance to a multi-type instrument mix featuring both carrots (encouragement and guidance) and sticks (target assessment). The “actor-instrument” bimodal network has transitioned from ministries using policy instruments independently in a loose pattern to a model featuring multi-ministry collaboration and the synergistic application of diverse instruments. The study suggests providing robust policy support for achieving the “dual carbon” goals by strengthening policy actor coordination and designing and efficiently screening high-performance policy portfolios.