Greenhouse gas emissions have increased rapidly and global warming is an emerging huge threat to the human society since the industrial revolution. In 2015 the Paris Agreement set a global goal to achieve carbon neutrality in the second half of the century, and more than 130 countries have been committed to this goal. Carbon neutrality is a multi-disciplinary and comprehensive research area involving energy, environment, finance, management, and other disciplines. For example, the research in low-carbon energy transition not only covers related technologies such as renewables and energy storage, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), etc., but also involves social sciences topics including climate change investment and financing, carbon management, circular economy, etc. At present, there is no one comprehensive journal which can cover the above topics. Although several journals involve some aspects of low-carbon research, the coverage is quite narrow, mostly focusing on one single discipline such as energy, environmental or policy study. The lack of cross-disciplinary research in the low-carbon area has seriously hindered the rapid development and promotion of net-zero carbon technologies, policies and ideas. In view of this, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Springer Nature jointly launched the journal of Carbon Neutrality in 2021.

Focused on low carbon energy, climate change, ecosystem and environmental governance, carbon finance and carbon management, Carbon Neutrality aims to establish itself as a flagship and leading international journal in the field of low carbon, publishing advanced and up-to-date original research and review papers with the highest quality in the area. The journal intends to create a cutting-edge international platform for scientists, engineers, policy makers, and entrepreneurs to exchange scientific and technological knowledge and explore effective carbon neutrality pathways and climate change solutions with shared expertise.

The Editorial Board of Carbon Neutrality consists of more than 40 prominent and world-leading experts. The research interests of the Editorial Board cover various disciplines such as low-carbon energy, low-carbon environment, carbon finance and carbon management, which lays a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the journal.

With the official publication of the first issue of Carbon Neutrality, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the authors, reviewers, Editorial Board Members and editorial office staff for their support and valuable contributions to the journal. We cordially invite more and more low-carbon experts worldwide to join us in contributing manuscripts and witnessing the development of Carbon Neutrality. I believe, with our joint efforts, Carbon Neutrality will become a world-leading journal promoting the global research in feasible solutions for climate change as well as optimal pathways to net-zero emissions.