Against the backdrop of global efforts to combat climate change and China’s implementation of the dual-carbon strategy (carbon peaking and carbon neutrality), advancing the green and low-carbon transition of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry represents a critical pathway toward achieving sustainable and high-quality development. Carbon footprint, as an important evaluation indicator, is crucial for the green manufacturing upgrade and international competitiveness enhancement of the TCM industry. This study systematically explores the connotation of green manufacturing of TCM and its intrinsic relationship with carbon footprint accounting. It also reviews current carbon footprint accounting policies, standards, and research advancements both domestically and internationally, particularly within the pharmaceutical sector. Based on life cycle assessment (LCA) theory and focusing on the unique characteristics of the TCM industry, this paper deeply reveals the key issues currently faced by carbon footprint accounting: weak data foundation and high uncertainty, ambiguous system boundaries and allocation rules, and the difficulty of general models in adapting to the spatio-temporal coupling characteristics of “energy-quality-efficiency” in TCM. Therefore, it is urgent to promote the localization and reconstruction of LCA theory, build a dynamic accounting model covering the entire chain from “medicinal materials-processing-preparation”, establish an industry-specific database, develop intelligent data collection technology, and promote the coordination of standard systems and policies. This research lays a theoretical foundation for constructing a novel evaluation paradigm for TCM green manufacturing-characterized by low carbon emissions, high product quality, and high operational efficiency and contributes to serving the dual-carbon strategy and the sustainable development of the TCM industry.

TCM green manufacturing  /  carbon footprint  /  life cycle assessment  /  data fusion  /  system boundary  /  accounting model