Background and Scope

Building a green and net zero future is a shared goal for all countries. The Cambridge Nanjing Forum 2023 held at Cambridge University – Nanjing Centre of Technology and Innovation on 24 November included 12 presentations from world-leading scholars and representatives of leading industries to showcase the latest development in the related policy, science and its applications.

We have invited papers from the conference speakers, but also welcome submissions from all policy makers, academic researchers and industrial practitioners to share the progress and insight on national strategy, technology focus and implementation of carbon reduction in China, UK and beyond.

International cooperation is vital to such a global challenge. It will speed up the technology advancement and strengthen the joint efforts to achieve the net zero target together. A special collection will be an excellent way to capture the opportunity and extend impact for the much-needed communication and coordinated development between countries among government, industry, academia, research bodies, and industrial and financial practitioners.

This special collection will include (but not be limited to the following topics)

• Route to Carbon Zero: Analysis or comparison on policy framework, strategies, regulations and measures at country level between China and UK, Both China and UK have prioritised the carbon reduction with the aim to achieve net zero, but the difference in the development stage and economic structure of the two countries leads to their own featured measures and strategies respectively. The study on similarities and discrepancies will help to inspire each other and others as well.
• Energy Transformation: Technologies and implementations of energy solutions are essential, such as clean and renewable energy, biomass utilisation, improvement of energy efficiency, recyclable waste, etc.
• Electrification and Advanced Manufacturing: A strategically important topic looks into critical elements of batteries, fuel cells and electrolysers, especially on finding out the current challenges and potential routes to develop strategies for carbon abatement.
• Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS): These are specific technical solutions on various aspects of carbon handling with direct impact on carbon emission and recycling.
• Environmental Impact and Solutions for Climate Change: The ultimate goal of carbon zero is for the harmonic co-existence between human and nature with sustainable environment and climate change at large. Overall view and solutions on the planet scale are at the core of the global challenges.

Submission Guidelines:

Please select the ‘Carbon Zero and Sustainability’ option from the special issue dropdown.

This special collection is designed to accept two types of articles:

• Long-form Research Paper, not exceed 5,000 words;
• Review Article, generally not exceed 8,000 words for the main text with no more than 150 references. 

For detailed manuscript preparation instructions and submission guidelines, please refer to "Instructions" for Authors. 

All manuscripts need to be submitted no later than 31st August 2024 (submit your paper here)

If you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact Alison Paskins (Publisher for Global Sustainability).

Guest Editors

Daping Chu – Academic Director of Cambridge University Nanjing Centre, Nanjing Professor of Technology and Innovation of University of Cambridge

Adrian Fisher – Director of Centre for Research in Electrochemical Science and Technology, Professor of Electrochemistry of University of Cambridge

Kebin He - CAE Academician, Dean of Institute for Carbon Neutrality of Tsinghua University