China's environmental problems are well-known and have been described in previous posts. For instance, it is set to become the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter later this year. In an FT op-ed, Ma Kai, the minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), says that "China is shouldering its climate change burden." Please, do not snicker at the title of this piece--at least before you read parts of it. Here is the Emmanuel Shorthand Guide to China's Position on the Environment and corresponding excerpts from the op-ed:"It could have been worse":
China has worked hard to adjust its economic structure to improve energy saving and cut emissions. From 1991 to 2005, with national energy consumption rising each year by 5.6 per cent, China sustained an annual economic growth rate of 10 per cent and lowered its energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 47 per cent, saving 800m tons of coal and cutting 1.8bn tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
"We're working on environmentally-friendly technologies like the gweilo (foreign devils)":
China remains committed to further improvements in both the way it uses existing energy sources and also the development of cleaner energy. By April 2007, the central government had approved 383 projects in wind, hydro and biofuel power generation, and the use of methane gas from coal beds. In total, they will cut emissions by 1bn tonnes. From 1980 to 2005, another 5.1bn tonnes was absorbed through extensive reforestation and better forest management.
"The one child policy was environmentally-friendly (and it could have been worse)":
Without China’s strict family planning policies, the country’s population would have increased by 138m people since 1979, resulting in an extra 330m tonnes in emissions. The policy has contributed significantly to easing the world’s population expansion and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. In line with various United Nations frameworks and the Kyoto protocol, China has formulated an “action plan” for addressing the issue. The first of its kind for a developing country, the plan will be put into action this year. China has a comprehensive set of policies to take further action, which can be summed up in three steps: lower emissions, more absorption and more recycling.
"Global warming is largely the West's fault":
The cumulative and per-capita emissions of developing countries so far have been modest compared with those of developed nations. With that in mind, any debate must take into full consideration the right of developing countries to develop and provide space for them to do so.
Take China as an example. From 1950 to 2002, China’s carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels accounted for only 9.33 per cent of the global total in the same period. In 2004, its per-capita emission of carbon dioxide caused by the burning of fossil fuel was 3.65 tonnes – 87 per cent of the world average and 33 per cent of that of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.
Don't you feel better now? With Australia, the US, and China (supposedly) going green, things are looking up--or are they? We'll see...UPDATE: the NDRC has released a more comprehensive document on "China's National Climate Change Programme." Commentators see the release of this document as a preemptive move over discussions about climate change as we head into the G-8 summit in Germany later this week. Chinese Premier Hu Jintao is joining G-8 leaders in Germany to discuss various matters along with climate change. The Guardian offers a summary of the points made in the document, some of which echo those given by Ma Kai in the FT op-ed. Like the US and Australia, China is not offering commitments on emissions caps, and is also seeing a tradeoff between caps and economic growth. (See Australian PM John Howard's related scare tactic of saying "it's me or a recession if you vote Labor" in an earlier post) :· China promises to make "significant achievements in controlling greenhouse gas emissions", which are a "major global issue".
· The country will not impose carbon dioxide emission caps, which would hurt a developing nation trying to eradicate poverty.
· Wealthy powers produce most greenhouse gases following 200 years of industrialisation so should fund clean development rather than forcing poor countries to accept emission limits. Rich nations have shifted manufacturing to poor nations then blamed them for rising pollution. [Oh, the hypocrisy of those foreigners, it appalls me so--nevermind that we welcomed them with open arms with all sorts of incentives...]
· China subscribes to the UN framework convention on climate change, which says that nations have "common but differentiated responsibilities" to address global warming. China will also fulfil its commitments under the Kyoto protocol.
· With its "scientific approach" to sustainable economic development, China will take the R&D of renewable energies to a "new level". Currently, China is around 10% less energy efficient that developed countries, which must do more to share knowledge of clean technologies. [Although the Guardian notes that China uses seven times as much energy per dollar of GDP than Japan does].
· China will introduce new efficiency legislation and preferential policies for energy saving products. It will consider changes in tax policies - for instance, to boost use of environmentally friendly vehicles - and phase out the production of energy-intensive cars.
· China will seek to improve its agricultural infrastructure, including promoting the use of low-emission and high-yield rice varieties. "Backward" farm machinery will be phased out and agricultural legislation tightened up.
· The country will increase tree planting and improve water resource management. It will seek to raise forest cover to 20%, although desertification makes reforestation difficult. Past tree-planting schemes have increased the proportion of forest cover grow from 14% of the country in the early 1990s to 18% in 2005.
· The threats which China sees from global warming in coming decades include intensified droughts and floods and unpredictable rainfall. It will put anti-flood engineering systems will be put in place in large rivers.
· Rising sea levels, increased melting of glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau and the Tianshan Mountains and declines in grain yields also threaten. A plan to extend mangroves as flood buffers will be completed. If adaptive steps are not taken, global warming could cut nationwide crop production by up to 10 % by 2030.
· China will continue to work towards the previously announced government goal of improving overall energy efficiency by 2010 by 20% compared with the 2005 level.
· China has a relatively low per capita emissions rate. An estimate of the country's 2004 carbon emission levels is around 6.1bn tonnes - about one-fifth of US per capita levels for the same year and just over one-third that of Europe.
· Family planning policies have helped mitigate climate change.
· China has already started developing renewable energies including hydropower, biomass, solar, geothermal and wind power in rural areas. These will be expanded.
· In 2005, renewable energies accounted for 7.5% of China's total energy consumption that year. More than 60 wind farms have been built and connected to the national grid.
· With a coal-dominated energy mix, China has a "relatively low capacity" to tackle climate change and will surely face more "severe challenges" when coping with it at the same time as "urbanisation, industrialisation and increasing residential energy consumption".
· China will support nuclear power plant construction and faster exploitation of coal bed methane. The share of coal in the country's energy mix has fallen from 76% in 1990 to 69% in 2005. China's reliance on coal will "not change substantially" in the long term but it will endeavour to develop technologies to utilise coal more efficiently.
· China will strive to build a "resource conservative and environmentally friendly society" and "vigorously engage" in cooperating with the international community on implementing its climate change plan.
· Efforts will be made to raise public awareness of climate change "remarkably". An official bilingual website on climate change has already been established. It will integrate climate change policy with social policy.
· China will promote commercial and residential energy conservation, including encouraging the development of green building design.
· The country will create of a National Leading Group to Address Climate Change, headed by Wen Jiabao, premier of the state council of China.
· George Bush's recent proposals on global warming are positive, but there should be a single, cohesive global approach to the problem.
