China's Climate Change Playbook is Worth Reading
In a few weeks, elite athletes from around the world will gather in Beijing. Press coverage of the Games is likely to highlight competition between America and China about which will win the most medals. Media coverage will also -- as it has already -- focus on air quality and environmental conditions in China.
As we compete on the playing fields, China and the U.S. should not lose sight of where our interests coincide -- climate change. And looking beyond the recently sooty skies of Beijing, China is clearly taking many positive steps to address its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The Olympics offers an opportunity for the U.S. and China to better understand each other and move forward together on fighting climate change.
China and the U.S. are the world's two biggest producers of greenhouse gases. The U.S. can no longer use China as an excuse for inaction. Contrary to popular belief, China is already implementing a comprehensive energy policy that addresses climate change.
While China's climate-change challenge equals the U.S. in scale, China's emissions footprint is fundamentally different. In the U.S., one-third of energy use and CO2 emissions come from transportation. In China, transport accounts for just 10 percent of emissions, and industry is the biggest contributor by far. So, Chinese policy appropriately focuses most strongly on reducing emissions from industry. China is replacing old inefficient power plants with state-of-the-art new units. It closed down more than 1,000 inefficient cement plants and hundreds of power plants last year, as well as steel mills, smelters, and glass and paper manufacturers, resulting in more efficient, less polluting industries.
Over the last three years, the Chinese government has introduced a series of regulations on energy conservation, resource use, and recycling. The stance of China's leaders is that energy conservation and efficiency come first -- well before the search for new fossil fuel sources.
But are these policies translating into action? It looks like they are. The "Thousand Enterprises Program" -- which forces the country's biggest companies to make specific energy-reduction commitments -- is meeting its goals. By 2010, this program will reduce China's coal consumption by 100 million metric tons, approximately 5 percent of annual CO2 emissions for China or the U.S.
We will all see the results of strenuous short-term measures, such as closing power plants, staggering working hours and limiting vehicles, during the Olympics. But China also has long-term policies in place for reducing coal dependence, increasing the use of renewable energy and reducing pollution.
Visitors to Beijing this summer will experience a greatly improved public transportation network, including two new subway lines added to the three that already exist, light-rail to its airport, several new dedicated bus rapid-transit lanes, as well as special buses with easier navigation for Olympic visitors. The Olympics has spurred completion of these projects in Beijing, but a dozen other Chinese cities also have mass transit improvements underway.
Visitors will also be treated to venues demonstrating state-of-the-art green technology, including the elegant and energy-efficient airport and the Water Cube swimming facility, which uses the building itself to capture outdoor heat to warm the pool. As for ordinary new building construction, reported compliance with energy-efficiency building codes has jumped from 5 to 50 percent in the last several years -- a substantial improvement. China also plans to install 150 million compact fluorescent lights by 2010 -- substantially reducing the 14 percent of electricity China currently devotes to lighting.
China has already taken impressive strides toward meeting its ambitious climate policy goals. But these goals would be more attainable if the U.S. government would "toe the line" with a serious commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally. Perhaps some of these discussions can take place in the stands during the Olympics, while the athletes accomplish their own amazing feats out on the field.
Jonathan Lash is president of the World Resources Institute. Deborah Seligsohn, director of WRI's China Climate, Energy and Pollution Program in Beijing, contributed to this post.
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The Chinese can be leaders in anything they choose to do, from zero population growth, to rapid economic modernisation, to controlling their pollution emissions. We would do well to respect them. Their traditions of authoritarianism are different from ours, but the differences should not be insurmountable. They are getting freer, and we have become more authoritarian.
I am beginning to believe that China's "harmonious society" might be a better model for the future than American capitalism. Not because I prefer either (I always like third alternatives), but because the Chinese are turning out to be more successful. And in world history success makes all the difference.
Having said that, the difference between ideal and reality is stark in China. They are just now moving away from a really horrible phase of totalitarianism that rivals the former USSR on all counts. Their capitalist exploits are worthy to be mentioned next to Manchester capitalism. And Chinese foreign policy has little regard for weaker neighbors, despite the fact that Chine is not expansionist. It simply defines what China is and will let nobody question that definition. This has lead to a horrible outcome for Tibet and some Chinese provinces (historically China has been more often conquered than it has conquered others).
In a sense we see both the insight that "the reed that does not bend in the wind breaks" and a historically necessitated stubbornness to defend even the most horrible decisions, which is probably the political expression of Asian "saving face" mentality that can as well be seen in Korea and Japan.
Where will it lead? One can only hope to the better. One thing is sure. If one blows as China lightly, it is very willing to bend and flows wonderfully. But if one tries to push, it will become an impenetrable wall.
"Contrary to popular belief, China is already implementing a comprehensive energy policy that addresses climate change."
Contrary to your propaganda, China is doing no such thing. China is engaged in the largest and most aggresive coal fired power plant construction program in the world. "Eighty per cent of China's electricity comes from coal, and there are plans for 544 new coal-fired power stations to meet an insatiable demand for energy"
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4330469.stm
If China truly believes CO2 is the cause of Global Warming, then why are thy doing more to increase human emissions of it than anyone else on the planet?
China's coal plants are a major, problem, yes. But the article and information you cite is three years old. More recently, China's NDRC, which sets energy policy, issued an order requiring older, less efficient plants to be decomissioned as new, more efficient ones are built.
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/40107/newsDate/1-Feb-2007/story.htm
"If China truly believes CO2 is the cause of Global Warming, then why are thy doing more to increase human emissions of it than anyone else on the planet?"
Keep in mind that China's emissions PER PERSON are about one-fifth those here in the U.S., so it's not fair to say they are doing more than anyone else to increase emissions.
Too funny... I guess if we up our Population to Chinas numbers we would not look so bad would we... I guess we just need another 8-900 million People to get our "PER PERSON" numbers down... So for all those concerned with how we look in comparison to China, start makin Babies Baby....Problem solved
From your link:
"China will require firms wanting to build new coal-fired power plants to shut down smaller, older generators at the same time"
This is easy to comply with. Simply start a new company to own the new power plant and sell pwer back to the old company. Viola! Regulation circumvented. And don't think the Chinese won't do just that. Energyu is is short supply there. they aren't just going to discard a working power plant if they can use its output.
What does per capita emissions have to do with emissions growth? If China were actually serious about emissions, why aren't they putting up wind turbines and solar like Al Gore wants us to do? They don't have the existing investment in infrastructure we do. For them, this is all new construction, no matter what sources they choose. If wind power is truly the economic godsend Al Gore wants everyone to believe, then this should be a no-brainer for the Chinese, right? Maybe the truth is something different? Maybe wind power has some serious economic disadvantages which the Chinese see clearly? And maybe the Chinese are disinclined to spend extra capital on non-competitive renewable energy?
China's energy use per capita is a fraction of that of the US. In addition, much of the energy is used to manufacture product for the rest of the world. It does not help to blame China for the problem. We all need to work on this together. China has made very serious progress in all areas, and they can be trusted to succeed in pretty much anything they do. That includes climate change and cleaning up their environment. The US, on the other hand, has done not much lately that makes it appear trustworthy with regards to this topic. We need to start cleaning up here before we point fingers.
"China's energy use per capita is a fraction of that of the US"
So what? The operative point is they are increasing their emissions at an exponential rate and they are choosing coal for the lion's share. There ia nothing particularly 'green', about coal fired power.
"China has made very serious progress in all areas"
Name one and produce references to back up this empty assertion.
"they can be trusted "
They can be trusted to put ethylene glycol in toothpaste, lead paint in toys, pesticides in canned mushrooms, carcinogens in dried apples, and antibiotics in frozen fish. They can also be trusted to provide fake products of all types and to infringe copyrights on breathtaking scale.
You speak of the country which is the single largest Mercury polluter in the world. China by itself generates 28% of all mercury pollution worldwide. source: China heads the list of the 10 countries with highest Hg emissions from anthropogenic activities. With more than 600 ton of Hg, China contributes about 28% to the global emissions of mercury.
source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-lash/chinas-climate-change-pla_b_114558.html
Notice that US emissions are trivial by comparison, something ike 40 tons per year. Most of this Chinese pollution is coming from COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS.
We can point the finger whenever it is warranted and it is warranted in spades in this case.
Pretty interesting things that China is doing. Its impressive seeing a country advance so rapidly.
This is great news. China reforming itself by laws and regulation, no need for cap and trade.
Buying carbon offsets from China would only benefit false additionality, right?
Cap and trade is laws and regulation.
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