Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
politics and economy, it is quite evident. Since the reform and opening up, its
importance has been building up daily and it has become more striking from the
start of the twenty-first century.” He also pointed out, “We are in a special world in
which China's international commitment is of crucial importance to a good result of
slowing down climate change. Currently those encouraging policies that China has
made to deal with climate change largely match the strong international demand of
slowing down climate change. All in all, China integrating its domestic policies into
the international commitment will completely change the result of the global efforts
to deal with climate change”
Gary Locke, former US Energy Minister and present ambassador to China,
interviewed by
Global Times
(July 16, 2009), said that America and China's
leading efforts on emission reduction would largely determine the future fate of
the world. China plays a decisive role in emission reduction and probably is the
country of utmost importance. Hence, despite having lower per capita emissions
than developed countries, China should work together with the other five countries
that emit the most greenhouse gases to reduce its emissions in the first place.
Hu Angang has also pointed out that when China has become the largest
beneficiary and driver of economic globalization and the biggest stakeholder in
global public interests, any acts of China, including economic development and
pursuit of national interests, should not work at the expense of humanity's common
interests. China's public commitment to emission reduction informs the whole
world that China is willing to protect the common home of human beings, the
earth, via mutual help and coordinated efforts with the rest of the world. Just as the
15th Political Bureau of the CCP, overriding all objections, decided to enter
the WTO, China taking the initiative to promise emission reductions is another
significant decision.
1.3
China Actively Responds to Climate Change
1.3.1 China's Attitude Towards Climate Change
Chinese leaders have declared on different occasions that China would actively
respond to global climate change and develop a low carbon economy. Since 1998,
China has enacted a variety of laws and regulations related to climate change and
low carbon economy and taken enormous measures. In 2009 China publicly
promised the international community at the Copenhagen Conference that China
would reduce its carbon emissions/GDP by 40-45 % by 2020 relative to 2005. In
2010, the National Development and Reform Commission designated five
provinces and eight cities as pilot sites of developing low carbon cities and
industries. In 2011, the 12th Five-Year Plan explicitly proposed that the develop-
ment mode should be transformed rapidly and that green and low carbon develop-
ment should be realized; it also set up a series of restrictive targets for energy saving
and emission reduction. All the above indicate that China is actively responding to
