The 12th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress recently voted to pass the "Energy Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Energy Law"), which makes provisions at the legal level on fundamental and significant issues in the energy sector. As a foundational and guiding law in China's energy field, the enactment of the Energy Law holds significant importance for ensuring national energy security and driving energy transformation.

Why is it necessary to enact an energy law? From the perspective of improving the energy legal system, China has previously formulated several specific energy laws and regulations, such as the Electricity Law, Coal Law, Energy Conservation Law, and Renewable Energy Law. However, there has been a lack of a guiding energy law; the various specific energy laws lack unified coordination, easily leading to conflicts, and are unable to address issues related to the direction, strategy, and overall development of the energy sector. The introduction of an energy law can fill the foundational legal void in China's energy sector, improve the energy legal system, and provide legal safeguards for the healthy development of the energy industry.

From the perspective of promoting high-quality energy development, as global climate change intensifies, the transition towards green and low-carbon has become an inevitable trend. Currently, China's energy development faces numerous issues and challenges, including rapid increases in consumption, persistent pressure to ensure supply, incomplete adjustment of the energy structure, the need to improve clean and efficient utilization, an insufficiently robust energy market system, and shortcomings in technological innovation. With the continuous deepening of energy market reforms, the previous model of industry development primarily driven by policy can no longer sustain. There is an urgent need for laws to stabilize expectations, solidify foundations, coordinate complex interests in energy development, and reasonably allocate rights and obligations. The introduction of an energy law can adapt to the new energy development situation, promptly transform the Party Central Committee's decisions into laws and regulations, and is an inevitable requirement to ensure national energy security, promote green and low-carbon transformation, and strengthen energy market regulation.

Promoting the development of the energy sector through legislation is also a common practice in developed countries. Following the first oil crisis in 1973, countries around the world accelerated their energy legislative processes, aiming to better manage and utilize energy resources. The rule of law in energy management has facilitated development, ensured supply, curbed unreasonable energy consumption, promoted energy transition, and helped many countries gradually overcome the challenges posed by energy issues.

In comparison, the formulation of China's energy law has been rather tortuous. In the first decade of the century, due to the rapid expansion of energy consumption and the sharp decline in self-sufficiency, the contradiction between supply and demand became prominent. China officially proposed the legislative plan for the energy law and published a draft for public consultation in the same year, but no substantial progress was made thereafter for a long time. After the "dual carbon" goals were proposed, China once again accelerated the legislative process for energy, and after several rounds of review and revision, the energy law was eventually passed.

The Energy Law has been officially enacted, signifying a significant consensus among various sectors on energy issues. One of the primary reasons for the previous "difficult birth" of the Energy Law was the ambiguity in the specific paths for energy transition, despite the clear overall trend. Energy issues involve a wide range of energy types and span the entire process from development, supply to utilization. At different stages of development, the quantities, roles, and statuses of various energy sources vary, affecting the interests of the government, industries, enterprises, and the public. Over the years, with rapid economic development and increasing energy demand, China's energy structure, utilization methods, and management systems have been continuously adjusted. These changes have increased the difficulty and time cost of legislation.

The establishment of the "dual carbon" targets has become the core driving force behind the introduction of energy laws. As consensus on the comprehensive green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society continues to strengthen across various sectors, the supporting policies for energy transition in areas such as production, consumption, fiscal and taxation, and technology are continuously being improved, making the legislative conditions for energy laws more mature than ever. The trend of gradually replacing high-carbon energy with low-carbon energy is irreversible.

The introduction of the Energy Law will have profound implications for China's economy and society. On one hand, it will strengthen the foundation of energy security. The first step in promoting energy transformation is to ensure energy security. The Energy Law, based on China's actual energy resources endowment, enhances national energy security capabilities by improving energy planning, reserves, and emergency systems, ensuring the stability and reliability of energy supply. On the other hand, it will promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society. The Energy Law explicitly supports the prioritized development and utilization of renewable energy, the rational development and clean and efficient use of fossil fuels, and the safe, reliable, and orderly substitution of non-fossil energy for fossil fuels. This will optimize the energy structure, help achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and promote the construction of an ecological civilization.

Maintaining energy security and addressing climate change are common challenges faced by humanity. Actively developing clean energy and promoting green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society have become a universal consensus among the international community in response to global climate change. The introduction of the Energy Law is a legal declaration of China's long-term energy strategy and policy orientation. As a leader in global energy transition, China, through the formulation of the Energy Law, clarifies the rights and obligations of various entities, which not only ensures that China's energy endeavors are on the right track but also continues to contribute Chinese experience to the global energy transition.