Assessing policies vital for green growth
- By Fong Wee Kean
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E-mail China Daily, December 22, 2015
These goals are technically achievable, because China started a pilot carbon-emissions trading project in 2011 in seven provinces and cities, which had a turnover of about 1.2 billion yuan by the end of August. To boost the promotion, the Chinese government is set to put its national carbon market into operation in 2017 by working with the European Union. Besides, China's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities completed their annual energy-saving tasks last year, on schedule.
It is clear that, as the world's largest developing country, China is determined to control its GHG emissions and pursue low-carbon and eco-friendly growth. And its efforts to fight climate change will have benign "spill-over" and demonstrative effects across the world in spite of the challenges it faces at home and abroad.
However, it should peak its carbon emissions as soon as possible, and strive to tap into the potential of renewable energy resources. Given that China's non-fossil fuel sources in the primary energy consumption mix last year was just more than 11 percent, it might need at least 1.2 billion tons of standard coal－almost 2.5 times the renewable energy generated in 2014－to fulfill the INDC commitments.
In other words, China's energy consumption after the peak will basically be confined to non-fossil fuel sources. Therefore, sustaining the post-peak growth requires an optimized energy structure in which renewable fuel sources should play a major role.
The nationwide promotion of pilot carbon-trading projects, too, have to be carried forward efficiently to trigger fundamental changes in the local development approach－from high-carbon to green and low-carbon.
The synergies embedded in the implementation of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20)－which features low-carbon development, energy conservation and emission reduction－are expected to help China get closer to its INDC goals. Since reducing the consumption of fossil fuels can improve the air quality and mitigate climate change, China ought to adopt a comprehensive evaluation system to keep track of and assess how relevant policies are working.
The author is the China Climate Program Lead, World Resources Institute.
