Carbon Neutrality Policies and Technologies: A Scientometric Analysis of Social Science Disciplines

摘要

Carbon neutrality, or “net zero”, has become the impact assessment project of human impact on Earth, increasingly structured to examine the implications, for the environment and people, of proposed actions and consequences of inaction. International and local collaboration efforts have been made with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality or “net-zero” emissions; thus, policies and technological innovations have been developed. Such impact-oriented risk assessment and control efforts amount to carbon-neutral pathways. Although such pathways may diverge in terms of energy, resources, and cost, it is critical to summarize essential and promising preparatory work on related policies and technologies to inform both policy-makers and social scientists to take actions. Through a scientometric analysis and systematic review of the latest social science literature, the study identified the size, scope and exemplar work for each social science discipline on carbon neutrality, based on 907 articles collected in early 2021 from the Web of Science database. This study reveals a set of disciplines focusing on certain common and distinct aspects of carbon neutrality. By outlining the possibilities and application areas for future research and policy development for socio-technical transition towards a net-zero or post-carbon future, this study has contributed to the understanding of the global efforts to achieve a clearer and viable carbon-neutral pathway. In conclusion, as many aspects of the planet and humans have become datafied, digitized, and networked, carbon neutrality, as the ecological indicator that guide human production and consumption patterns, must take on a central role in guiding our conscious green digital transformation of many political, economic, social and psychological aspects of our societies according to the existing and emerging social science knowledge.

廖漢騰

負責人﹑資料科學家 Lead Data Scientist

澳恪森數智科技服務公司負責人﹑資料科學家。牛津大學博士，台灣大學電機及外文雙學士﹑資訊工程及新聞雙碩士。曾任開源軟件平台項目經理，博士後先後於美國喬治城大學﹑德國亞歷山大·馮·洪堡大學﹑聯合國大學﹑等智庫，迸行循證互聯網政策研究。自 2017 年到 2023 年初創建澳恪森數智之前，他先後擔任廣州南方學院（前身為中山大學南方學院）的副教授、網絡與新媒體專業主任等職位，完成《2019年世界生態設計大會：互聯網生態設計向善》報告﹑成功建設省級一流課程﹑校級研究中心及校級實驗室ESG數據驅動決策等成果。研發興趣包括 數字化綠色化雙化轉型﹑碳中和數智平台﹑及人工智能科技向善。創建澳恪森目的是推進生態設計﹑商業生態系統兩者的產學合作，集成﹑可審計和負責任的數據驅動決策產出正面社經及環境影響。