Against the backdrop of the "dual carbon" goals and global climate governance, science and technology awards are increasingly focusing on the green and low-carbon field. By increasing reward efforts, setting up special evaluations, and strengthening the transformation of achievements, they guide scientific and technological innovation towards green and low-carbon development, providing strong technical support for sustainable development.

The proportion of award-winning projects in the green and low-carbon field has significantly increased, covering innovation across the entire industry chain. In the 2024 National Science and Technology Award, the proportion of green and low-carbon related projects winning awards reached 35%, an increase of 20 percentage points from 2020, covering multiple fields such as clean energy, energy conservation and emission reduction, carbon capture, utilization and storage. The PV building integration technology developed by a team has won the the State Technological Innovation Award. This technology perfectly integrates solar power generation with building materials, and the power generation efficiency has been improved by 18%. It has been applied in 10 million square meters of buildings nationwide, with an annual carbon dioxide emission reduction of 1.2 million tons. Local science and technology awards have also established green special projects. The "Ecological Science and Technology Award" in a certain province specifically recognizes innovative achievements in environmental protection and ecological restoration. The number of projects accepted in 2024 has tripled compared to the initial establishment.

Strengthen the quantitative evaluation of ecological benefits and establish a green innovation orientation in the evaluation criteria. Establish a green technology evaluation index system for technology awards, quantitatively scoring from dimensions such as carbon emission intensity, energy utilization rate, and resource recycling rate, with a weight of no less than 30%. When evaluating a certain industrial energy-saving technology, not only were its energy-saving rate and other technical indicators examined, but also the carbon emission reduction of the entire technology chain was calculated through the life cycle analysis method. Ultimately, it received a high score due to its annual emission reduction potential exceeding 5 million tons of carbon dioxide. Some awards also introduce the requirement of "carbon footprint accounting", requiring applicants to provide a complete carbon footprint report, guiding researchers to consider the green attributes of technology from the entire lifecycle.

The award-winning achievements will be prioritized for inclusion in the green technology promotion catalog, accelerating their industrial application. The green and low-carbon achievements that have won the National Science and Technology Award will be automatically included in the "National Green Technology Promotion Catalogue" and enjoy policy support such as tax reduction and government procurement priority. 80% of the award-winning achievements included in the catalog in 2024 have achieved large-scale application. A certain award-winning waste incineration power generation flue gas purification technology has been adopted by 50 waste treatment plants nationwide, with pollutant emission indicators better than international standards. The organizers of the science and technology awards, together with the ecological environment department and energy enterprises, held a green technology docking meeting, which facilitated more than 120 green award-winning cooperation projects with a total investment of over 20 billion yuan in 2024, promoting the rapid implementation of technology.

The focus of technology awards on the green and low-carbon field not only inspires more scientific research forces to invest in green technology innovation, but also accelerates the transformation and application of advanced technologies, providing solid technological support for achieving the "dual carbon" goals and sustainable development, leading society towards a green and low-carbon transformation.