Recent advanc­es in China’s sustainable transition studies

The world is confronted with increasing uncertainty and divisive threats to a sustainable global transition. Deglobalization is driving economic decoupling, and the pandemic is further preventing social exchange. The outcome of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference is a rare source of positive news. This special issue, entitled “Space Reconstruction in China’s Sustainable Transition: Land, Energy and Carbon Emission”, makes a timely academic contribution in response to these problems by presenting some recent research concerns and advances. This introductory article presents the latest policy debate and summarizes the major findings from six articles covered in the special issue. We show that academic society is worried about the negative effect of divisive trends on sustainable transition. Moreover, China’s great spatial heterogeneity calls for an equitable and stable strategy to direct the transition process.

Wei, C., Xu, and C.-Z. Li. 2022. Recent advanc­es in China’s sustainable transition studies. Let­ters in Spatial and Resource Sciences .