Marx’s theory of general social capital reveals the primary operative law of social reproduction and dialectical integrity of inkind compensation and value compensation in social reproduction. On the basis of Marx’s theory of general social capital what may be involved is the process of exchange among categories of resources environment, productive means and subsistence means in the course of social reproduction of resources environment, in which the actualizing mechanism of sustainable development should be the priority of resources environment to be developed. Therefore, there are three means to develop a lowcarbon economy: developing carbonsequestrating industry based on inkind compensation, laying down measures of imposing carbon tax based on value compensation and establishing the carbonemitting exchange and market mechanism of forest carbon currency based on mechanism of carbon exchange.

theory of reproduction under general social capital; sustainable development; lowcarbon economy