On 15 March 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that “achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality is a broad and profound economic and social systemic change” and called for “putting energy and resources conservation in the first place”. Natural resources are the material basis, space carrier and energy source of high-quality development. The source of carbon emissions is resource utilization, and carbon reduction and removal also depend on resources. The improvement of carbon sink capacity is inseparable from natural resources. To achieve the goal of “double carbon”, it is necessary to consolidate the carbon sink capacity of the ecosystem, as well as enhancing its carbon sink increment. Among natural resources, forest carbon sinks, soil carbon sinks and karst carbon sinks have significant emission reduction potential and cost advantages, representing important means to deal with climate change. This paper reviews the relevant research results at home and abroad, summarizes the carbon sink estimation, carbon sink potential, carbon sink influencing factors, ecological compensation mechanism and other aspects, analyzes the path selection of establishing carbon sink green development, and puts forward corresponding policies and suggestions, providing a theoretical reference for the achievement of the carbon neutrality goal in the field of natural resources in China.

Global warming and climate change are becoming the most popular topics among scientists. In this century, the research focusing on the process and mechanism of the carbon cycle, especially the research of reducing the concentration of atmospheric CO₂ (carbon sink and carbon sequestration technology), are the core issues of global change. The karst carbon sink was neglected due to the consideration that it was a geological process with a long timescale. Recently, studies have proven that carbonate rock weathering is a rapid and sensitive process, and the Fifth Climate Change Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirmed this. Guizhou, as the center of karst in China, has the unique advantages of the karst carbon sink, and is the core area of the karst carbon sink. On the basis of summarizing the development and evolution trend of karst carbon sinks, through data collection and field research, the Carbon Neutralization Research Group of Guizhou Institute of Technology has conducted an exploratory investigation on karst carbon sinks in Guizhou Province, and basically identified the mechanism, influencing factors and measurement methods of karst carbon sinks in Guizhou karst areas. The results show that the potential of the karst carbon sink in Guizhou is huge. Vegetation restoration, soil improvement, irrigation with external water and the cultivation of aquatic plants are important ways to increase the karst carbon sink by artificial intervention. A series of achievements have been made in the theory, technology and platform construction of the karst carbon cycle geological survey and carbon sink effect evaluation. It is worth noting that there are still great challenges in karst carbon sink measurement and verification, and in the demonstration of artificial intervention in carbon sequestration and sink enhancement, which need to be continuously tackled and improved in the “14th Five-Year Plan” period and beyond, so as to meet the needs of the carbon neutralization target of geological carbon sink services.

A carbon peak in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060 are major strategic development goals for China. Driven by the ambitious goal of achieving a carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the development of green innovation technology is an important method of achieving these aims. Speeding up energy transformation and tapping into the carbon sink capacity of the natural ecosystem are key to this process. The strategic path of green development deserves further discussion. This study takes Guizhou province as an example. Based on the actual situation of Guizhou province and the characteristics of karst areas, through the collection and collation of the existing literature, policies, and technologies and the analysis of typical cases, this paper summarizes and analyzes ecological restoration and negative carbon emissions in karst areas; water-energy-carbon coupling, energy saving, and emissions reduction technologies; industrial energy saving and emission-reduction technologies in karst areas; and CCUS technology for carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and storage. On this basis, the trend and orientation of green development in Guizhou are studied and judged, and countermeasures such as adhering to clean and efficient low-carbon utilization, strengthening the research on and development of carbon emission-reduction technology, and implementing carbon sink capacity buildings are put forward. Key core technology research and development innovation are recommended to establish a low-carbon science and technology innovation system. The efficient use of energy, the recycling of resources, negative emissions, and other strategies should be promoted. We also posit specific suggestions such as accelerating the transformation and application of green and low-carbon scientific and technological achievements.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the impacts of human activities have changed the global climate system, and climate warming has had rapid and widespread effects on the planet. At present, the world is experiencing a series of natural disasters, such as climate change, environmental pollution, biodiversity loss, and sea level rise, which pose a serious threat to the livability of the Earth. An international consensus has been reached that achieving carbon neutrality is the key to tackling climate change; it is also crucial to building a livable planet. To achieve carbon neutrality, energy is the main aspect, for which technology regarding resources and the environment is essential. In this context, we collected data, performed an in-depth analysis of the basic and structural characteristics of the development of the coal industry and environmental remediation, studied and judged the trends in regional economic development and demand growth, and closely examined the requirements of China’s development strategy, which focuses on the ideas of carbon peak and carbon neutralization in line with local development trends and economic system characteristics. We must build a livable Earth, promote the green and low-carbon transformation of regional energy, promote high-quality economic development, and ensure the safe supply of energy.

Guizhou Province has abundant forest resources, and it has great economic value and social benefits to explore the practical path of forestry carbon sequestration. Based on the current situation of forestry carbon sequestration development in Guizhou Province, this paper innovatively integrates forestry carbon sequestration indicators into the existing Environmental, Social and Governance(ESG) evaluation system using an evolutionary game model. It analyzes the factors restricting forestry carbon sequestration and explores the influencing factors of forestry carbon sequestration benefit sharing bodies in Guizhou. Through regression analysis, the paper discusses the impact of enterprise ESG scores, government subsidy amounts, and forestry carbon sequestration costs on forestry carbon sequestration purchase volume. The research results show that enterprise ESG scores and government subsidy amounts have a significant positive impact on enterprise forestry carbon sequestration purchase volume, while forestry carbon sequestration costs have a significant negative impact. The results have passed the robustness test in different industries. The simulation analysis results show that the stable point of the evolutionary game is (1,0,1) and (1,1,0), which verifies that the ESG rating system with forestry carbon sequestration integration can promote enterprises to purchase more forestry carbon sequestration, i.e., the effectiveness of forestry carbon sequestration in activating the ESG rating system mechanism. Based on the research conclusions, the paper puts forward policy implications: the government should accelerate the construction of localized ESG rating systems, improve enterprise information disclosure and supervision, increase subsidies and reduce forestry carbon sequestration costs, and optimize carbon quota design.

On 22 September 2020, General Secretary Xi made a solemn commitment to the international community at the general debate of the seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and he announced specific goals at the Climate Ambition Summit. China is striving to achieve carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. At the same time, during the Fifth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Committee of the CPC and the Central Economic Work Conference, specific arrangements for related goals have been made. During these two sessions in 2021, carbon peak and carbon neutralization were also mentioned in the government work report for the first time, which became the “hot words” discussed by the delegates and one of the key subjects of the 14th Five-Year Plan. Against the current backdrop of “double carbon”, reforms must urgently be made in the education and teaching of the resource major in colleges and universities to achieve the goal of carbon neutralization with high quality, promote discipline construction, and explore and implement the development model of “new engineering”. With regard to the resource exploration industry, mining, dressing and smelting will produce a large amount of carbon dioxide, solid waste and tailings, which can be neutralized by injecting solid waste or tailings reservoirs through green mine construction and carbon capture. On the one hand, the comprehensive utilization efficiency of mines can be improved in this way. On the other hand, a large amount of carbon can be stored underground, which is an important method of achieving the goal of carbon neutrality. In this study, we took the core course “Mineral Resources Exploration” from the resource exploration major as an example to think about and study the ways the education and teaching of resource majors could be reformed, such as exploration engineering under the guidance of the carbon neutrality target, which has certain guiding significance regarding the improvement of the training quality of resource major students.