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The transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry is supported by smart and green manufacturing, which have great potential to empower the nation's green development. This study examines the impact of the Made in China 2025 industrial policy on urban green economic growth. This study applies the super-slacks-based measure model to measure cities' green economic growth, using the double machine learning model, which overcomes the limitations of the linear setting of traditional causal inference models and maintains estimation accuracy under high-dimensional control variables, to conduct an empirical analysis based on panel data of 281 Chinese cities from 2006 to 2021. The results reveal that the Made in China 2025 strategy significantly drives urban green economic growth, and this finding holds after a series of robustness tests. A mechanism analysis indicates that the Made in China 2025 strategy promotes green economic growth through green technology progress, optimizing energy consumption structure, upgrading industrial structure, and strengthening environmental supervision. In addition, the policy has a stronger driving effect for cities with high manufacturing concentration, industrial intelligence, and digital finance development. This study provides valuable theoretical insights and policy implications for government planning to promote high-quality development through industrial policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is intended to expose the connectedness of green financing and other green policies like renewable energy and technological progress towards identifying the best practice to achieve climate goal cum sustainable environmental development for China within the period 1985–2021. Amid the increased utilization of fossil fuels in China's economic activities and its position as the highest carbon emitting country in the world, China is considered a financial stable economy with access to renewable energy source such as hydroelectric power. For effective research into the objective of this study, the study builds on mechanism of the green finance—renewable—technology and emission nexus with the help of linear dynamics of ARDL bound and VECM granger causality methods. Empirical results from both approaches have given insight to the selected objectives of this study. According to ARDL dynamics: (i) the coefficients of linear (1.802) and non-linear(− 1.860) (i.e. square term) of financial development are positively and negatively connected to the carbon emissions. This confirms the presence of inverted U-shape relationship between the financial development and carbon emissions. (ii) the relationship between hydroelectric power representing renewable energy and CO2 is negative—(− 0.19) and significant at 1% level. This results depicts the reduction power of hydroelectric power on CO2, (iii) also, a negative (− 0.000982) linkage between number of patent application representing technological innovation and environmental development through carbon emissions responses is established. Also, findings from VECM granger causality approach back the findings from ARDL through a nexus between the variables of interest (finance, hydroelectric power, and technology and carbon emissions). Findings point to the ability of green financing to reduce carbon emissions if green financing policies are utilized effectively in regulating carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large-scale loss of ecosystem assets around the world, and the resultant reduction in the provision of nature's benefits to people, underscores the urgent need for better metrics of ecological performance as well as their integration into decision-making. Gross ecosystem product (GEP) is a measure of the aggregate monetary value of final ecosystem-related goods and services in a specific area and for a given accounting period. GEP accounting captures the use of many ecosystem services in production processes across the economy, which are then valued in terms of their benefits to society. GEP has five key elements that make it transparent, trackable, and readily understandable: (1) a focus on nature's contributions to people; (2) the measurement of ecosystem assets as stocks and ecosystem services as flows; (3) the quantification of ecosystem service use; (4) an understanding of ecosystem service supply chains through value realization; and (5) the disaggregation of benefits across groups. Correspondingly, a series of innovative policies based on GEP have been designed and implemented in China. The theoretical and practical lessons provided by these experiences can support continued policy innovation for green and inclusive development around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined villagers' intention of pro-environmental behavior while supporting the Landcare Policy in China. The research team conducted field surveys of villagers from four famous scenic spots of Cili, which is near the world natural heritage site of the Zhangjiajie natural landscape core area. This area has developed rural tourism, many local villagers rely on tourism to obtain their livelihood income. However, the area is now affected by the environmental remediation policy called Landcare Policy. Cultivated land near the tourist area needs to be repaired, which affects the tourism income of some local villagers. Therefore, local villagers are facing a contradiction between tourism development and environmental protection. The study chose the change in local villagers' pro-environmental intention as the research content. Then we adopted an empirically validated norm activation model (NAM) from Schwartz, and merged the NAM with the expectancy theory of Vroom, based on 511 valid responses from the field questionnaire surveys, we aimed to develop a theoretical framework for researchers to understand the change in villagers' pro-environmental behaviors, concerning the balance between rural tourism livelihood benefits and environmental remediation behavior. Structural equation modeling was conducted for each index of the responses, the findings showed that the merged model had 76.46% better predictive accuracy of villagers' pro-environmental intentions than applying Schwartz's NAM independently. This study found that the motivational force of this new theory significantly influences environmental personal norms due to the joint impact of valence, instrumentality, and expectancy. Villagers with a positive pro-environmental behavior intention expect good tourism benefits and environmental living conditions under the impact of the Landcare policy in rural tourism destinations near the famous natural heritage site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined villagers' intention of pro-environmental behavior while supporting the Landcare Policy in China. The research team conducted field surveys of villagers from four famous scenic spots of Cili, which is near the world natural heritage site of the Zhangjiajie natural landscape core area. This area has developed rural tourism, many local villagers rely on tourism to obtain their livelihood income. However, the area is now affected by the environmental remediation policy called Landcare Policy. Cultivated land near the tourist area needs to be repaired, which affects the tourism income of some local villagers. Therefore, local villagers are facing a contradiction between tourism development and environmental protection. The study chose the change in local villagers' pro-environmental intention as the research content. Then we adopted an empirically validated norm activation model (NAM) from Schwartz, and merged the NAM with the expectancy theory of Vroom, based on 511 valid responses from the field questionnaire surveys, we aimed to develop a theoretical framework for researchers to understand the change in villagers' pro-environmental behaviors, concerning the balance between rural tourism livelihood benefits and environmental remediation behavior. Structural equation modeling was conducted for each index of the responses, the findings showed that the merged model had 76.46% better predictive accuracy of villagers' pro-environmental intentions than applying Schwartz's NAM independently. This study found that the motivational force of this new theory significantly influences environmental personal norms due to the joint impact of valence, instrumentality, and expectancy. Villagers with a positive pro-environmental behavior intention expect good tourism benefits and environmental living conditions under the impact of the Landcare policy in rural tourism destinations near the famous natural heritage site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on survey data from CSS2017, this article examines the impact of Internet use on environmental pollution perception. The study found that after controlling for a range of demographic, psychological and provincial-level objective variables, three dimensions of Internet use variables have different effects on environmental pollution perception: The respondents' use vs. non-use of the Internet, information-oriented Internet use and commerce-oriented Internet use are significantly positively correlated with their perception of environmental pollution, while socially oriented Internet use, the belief that the Internet is more comprehensive than traditional media and the belief that the Internet can more truthfully reflect public opinion are significantly negatively correlated with their environmental pollution perception. The results of 2SLS and IV Probit estimation confirm that the Internet usage could effectively increase individuals' perception of environmental pollution. Further analysis found that personal annual income plays a moderating role between use/non-use of the Internet and environmental pollution perception and between information-oriented Internet use and environmental pollution perception. The above research findings have important policy implications. Governments should strengthen environmental governance, use the platform of the Internet to strengthen government-public communication, and take into account demographic, psychological and regional objective factors when adopting environmental governance policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global health, as well as worldwide development regimes, was seriously threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic and Delta variant outbreaks. In addition to pledging to adapt to and mitigate climate change, experts, economists, and policymakers expressed their determination to do so. Green growth and sustainable development have become the focus of policymakers and governments. The progress toward green economic efficiency (GEE), which will benefit the economy, society, and environment, continues. In terms of green growth and development, implementing environmental regulations and policies has been one of the most challenging aspects of the process. China, the world's second-largest economy, has begun its journey to GEE. Nonetheless, the green economy faces many challenges. The objective of the study is to use AHP analysis to analyze environmental regulation and GEE in China. Accordingly, the study identified three alternative approaches to achieve GEE by analyzing four criteria and ten sub-criteria in the context of environmental regulations in China. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) has been used to rank criteria, sub-criteria, and alternative approaches. According to the model, China's best path to GEE is through resource efficiency and green purchasing strategies. This article offers an insightful assessment of sustainable development in the Chinese economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional ecological health, the core of comprehensive ecosystem assessments, is an important foundation for regional exploration, environmental conservation, and sustainable development. The mountainous areas in southwest China are backward in economy, but industrialization and urbanization have been rapid in recent years. This study assessed the ecosystem health of the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in China using a pressure-state-response (PSR) model. Spatiotemporal patterns of regional ecosystem health were analyzed from 2000 to 2016, including overall characteristics as well as local characteristics. Ecosystem health in most regions was improved over time (Y = 0.0058X − 11.0132, R2 = 0.95, P < 0.001), and areas with poorer ecosystem health decreased from half to one-third of the total area. Analysis of the primacy ratio and the variation coefficient confirmed that the gap in health scores between regions has gradually expanded since 2007, but there are more high quality regions overall (Z of Moran's index < 1.96, P > 0.05). Overall, the regional ecosystems to the east of the Hu line—an imaginary line dividing east and west China into roughly equivalent parts—were healthier than those to the west. The pressure and state scores of ecosystems were determined by physiographic condition, and the response scores by government policies and social concern. The spatiotemporal patterns of ecosystem health were dominated to a greater extent by natural than anthropogenic factors, which explains why the shift in the patterns aligned with the direction of the Hu line. Dividing regions into key management areas based on natural geographical conditions and socioeconomic development could contribute to the formulation of a reasonable ecological and environmental protection policy, guaranteeing ecosystem services in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 2012, Beijing began releasing air quality report of PM 2.5. The move has been credited as a major breakthrough in China’s environmental governance as it is argued that online environmental activists in China were the major driving force behind it. Since then, the issue of air pollution has reemerged as one of the hottest issues and a series of new policies addressing air pollution have been adopted. Facing a relatively new phenomenon (wumai) and heightened public concerns, to what extent is the state still capable of guiding the pubic perception and opinions about the issue? By analyzing the discourse of air pollution in People’s Daily and comparing it with public opinion survey data, the paper finds that the state’s ability to guide public opinion is rather limited, indicating that opportunities do exist for civil society to play a bigger role in China’s environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonconventional by-production approach with respect to the freely disposable inputs but without the weakly disposable and null-joint outputs has been proposed to describe the pollution generating technologies since 2012. To amend the contradictory trade-offs among inputs, intended and unintended outputs, which generate in the previous conventional pollution-generating technologies, the new by-production approach decomposes the general pollution generating technology as classical intended production technology and nature's residual-generation mechanism. In this paper, some production and environmental efficiency indexes will be extended and firstly applied in the study of regional technical efficiency level with considering the energy utilization and air pollutants emission in China. Based on our calculating results, there exists the obvious variation in the regional technical efficiency level with the regional geographic separation. Eastcoast area ranks the highest in production efficiency measurement, and the West has the lowest levels in both production and environmental efficiency. Through conducting some reason discussions, our new efficiency results based on the by-production approach are consistent with the fact of Chinas unbalanced regional development pattern and also reveal the ineffectiveness of current environmental policy implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the issue of communication in Chinese environmental criminal law is examined in relation to whether it is understandable to the public or not. It is concluded that Chinese environmental criminal law is ambiguous. It is argued that poor enforcement of criminal environmental law is partly due not only to the failure of the lawmakers to make clear rules but also to the failure of communicating important moral and aesthetic values to the public so necessary for effective protection of the environment. It is affirmed that along with the rules of behaviour, law must also communicate values. The Chinese history has its own rich pro-environmental ethical tradition of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism which must be utilized to address all aspects of environmental protection including environmental crime issues. Legislation must be an educational tool which communicates vital moral values to the public. Environmental protection is one area where such communication is particularly important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the anti-incinerator protest in Guangzhou in China. It uses the advocacy coalition framework to analyze the dynamics between Guangzhou Municipal Government and the protesters. The research covers the establishment of a Public Consultative and Supervision Committee for Urban Waste Management in Guangzhou, a public consultative mechanism for waste management, which is a new development in the policy-making process in socialist China. The ultimate plan will be to demonstrate how policy adjustment is not determined solely by the outcome of protests but is also affected by both a decentralized political structure and the socio-cultural foundation. Consequently, the discussion also explores the gradual transformation of public participation in China's environmental policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a decomposition and emissions matrix is developed to identify the roles (giver or taker) played by the sectors in the greenhouse gas emissions for the economy of Beijing in China. Our results indicate that services were the most important emitter if we consider the total (direct and indirect) emissions. In addition to Construction, Scientific studies and technical services and Finance sectors of services were the largest takers. They have a large role in boosting greenhouse gas emissions throughout the economy of Beijing. As the basis and supporter of production activities, the electricity production and the transportation sectors were the greatest givers. More emphasis should be placed on using clean energy and carbon capture and storage technologies to reduce emissions within these sectors. Based on the roles played by these sectors in greenhouse gas emissions, some policy implications were proposed for energy utilization and carbon emissions trading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air deterioration caused by pollution has harmed public health. The existing studies on the economic loss caused by a variety of air pollutants in multiple cities are lacking. To understand the effect of different pollutants on public health and to provide the basis of the environmental governance for governments, based on the dose-response relation and the willingness to pay, this paper used the latest available data of the inhalable particulate matter (PM) and sulphur dioxide (SO) from January 2015 to June 2015 in 74 cities by establishing the lowest and the highest limit scenarios. The results show that (1) in the lowest and highest limit scenario, the health-related economic loss caused by PM and SO represented 1.63 and 2.32 % of the GDP, respectively; (2) For a single city, in the lowest and the highest limit scenarios, the highest economic loss of the public health effect caused by PM and SO was observed in Chongqing; the highest economic loss of the public health effect per capita occurred in Hebei Baoding. The highest proportion of the health-related economic loss accounting for GDP was found in Hebei Xingtai. The main reason is that the terrain conditions are not conducive to the spread of air pollutants in Chongqing, Baoding and Xingtai, and the three cities are typical heavy industrial cities that are based on coal resources. Therefore, this paper proposes to improve the energy structure, use the advanced production process, reasonably control the urban population growth, and adopt the emissions trading system in order to reduce the economic loss caused by the effects of air pollution on public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetlands play an important role in water conservation, environmental protection, and biodiversity conservation. Remote sensing is an economical and efficient technique for wetland monitoring which can limit disturbance in sensitive areas and support wetland conservation. In this paper, we used three phases of Thematic Mapper/Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (TM/ETM+) remote sensing images from October 1989, October 1999, and October 2009 to study wetlands in Xingzi County. The images were segmented using the object-oriented remote sensing image interpretation software eCognition Developer 8.64, then segmented images were classified by slope, digital elevation model (DEM) data, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Specific Leaf Area Vegetation Index (SLAVI), and Land and Water Masks (LWM) index to produce land type classification maps. Land use change information was obtained by analyzing the superposition of two classification maps of the wetland area from different years. The results showed that landscape patches in Xingzi County displayed fragmentation in their spatial distribution over time. Based on an index of changes in landscape patches, the fastest growing landscape type is grassland, while the fastest decreasing type is irrigated land. Dominant driving factors of changes in Xingzi County's wetland landscape are population growth and policy changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regime shift often results in large, abrupt, and persistent changes in the provision of ecosystem services and can therefore have significant impacts on human wellbeing. Understanding regime shifts has profound implications for ecosystem recovery and management. China's coastal ecosystems have experienced substantial deterioration within the past decades, at a scale and speed the world has never seen before. Yet, information about this coastal ecosystem change from a dynamics perspective is quite limited. In this review, I synthesize existing information on coastal ecosystem regime shifts in China and discuss their interactions and cascading effects. The accumulation of regime shifts in China's coastal ecosystems suggests that the desired system resilience has been profoundly eroded, increasing the potential of abrupt shifts to undesirable states at a larger scale, especially given multiple escalating pressures. Policy and management strategies need to incorporate resilience approaches in order to cope with future challenges and avoid major losses in China's coastal ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representations of Green Tibetans connected to Buddhism and indigenous wisdom have been deployed by a variety of actors and persist in popular consciousness. Through interviews, participatory mapping and observation, we explored how these ideas relate to people's notions about the natural environment in a rural community on the Eastern Tibetan plateau, in Sichuan Province, China. We found people to be orienting themselves towards the environment by means of three interlinked religious notions: (1) local gods and spirits in the landscape, which have become the focus of conservation efforts in the form of 'sacred natural sites;' (2) sin and karma related to killing animals and plants; (3) Buddhist moral precepts especially non-violence. We highlight the gaps between externally generated representations and local understandings, but also the dynamic, contested and plural nature of local relationships with the environment, which have been influenced and reshaped by capitalist development and commodification of natural resources, state environmental policies, and Buddhist modernist ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has among the highest biodiversities in the world, but faces extreme biodiversity losses due to the country's huge population and its recent explosive socioeconomic development. Despite huge efforts and investments by the government and Chinese society to conserve biodiversity, especially in recent decades, biodiversity losses may not have been reversed, and may even have been exacerbated by unintended consequences resulting from these projects. China's centralized approach to biodiversity conservation, with limited local participation, creates an inflexible and inefficient approach because of conflicts between local communities and national administrators over the benefits. Although community-based conservation may be an imperfect approach, it is an essential component of a successful future national conservation plan. Biodiversity conservation should be considered from the perspective of systems engineering and a governance structure that combines centralization with community-level conservation. In this paper, we describe China's complex challenge: how to manage interactions between humans and nature to find win-win solutions that can ensure long-term biodiversity conservation without sacrificing human concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porter hypothesis states that environmental regulation may lead to win-win opportunities, that is, improve the productivity and reduce the undesirable output simultaneously. Based on directional distance function, this paper proposes a novel dynamic activity analysis model to forecast the possibilities of win-win development in Chinese industry between 2011 and 2050. The consistent bootstrap estimation procedures are also developed for statistical inference of the point forecasts. The evidence reveals that the appropriate energy-saving and emission-abating regulation will significantly result in both the net growth of potential output and the increasing growth of total factor productivity for most industrial sectors in a statistical sense. This favors Porter hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution liability insurance was officially introduced in China only in 2006, as part of new market-based approaches for managing environmental risks. By 2012, trial applications of pollution insurance had been launched in 14 provinces and cities. More than ten insurance companies have entered the pollution insurance market with their own products and contracts. Companies in environmentally sensitive sectors and high-risk industries bought pollution insurance, and a few successful compensation cases have been reported. Still, pollution insurance faces a number of challenges in China. The absence of a national law weakens the legal basis of pollution insurance, and poor technical support stagnates further implementation. Moreover, current pollution insurance products have limited risk coverage, high premium rates, and low loss ratios, which make them fairly unattractive to polluters. Meanwhile, low awareness of environmental and social liabilities leads to limited demand for pollution insurance products by industrial companies. Hence, the pollution insurance market is not yet flourishing in China. To improve this situation, this economic instrument needs stronger backing by the Chinese state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the Chinese policy environment as regards the experiences of foreign firms in China. In particular, the study focuses on the changes in China's policies toward foreign-invested firms and the companies' perceptions of protectionism of the Chinese regulatory environment. Theoretically, the paper reflects approaches in international political economy and business studies on the bargaining relations between host states and firms, and institutional perspective on business strategy that focuses on the dynamic interaction between organizations and their institutional environment. Hence, the approach takes into account the formal and informal institutional constraints that firms face in a particular institutional framework. Drawing from international survey data, as well as interviews with China-based Finnish firms, the paper analyzes the different types of formal and informal protectionism that foreign companies face in China. It is found that foreign firms perceive the Chinese policy measures as increasingly protective, strict toward foreigners, and favoring of local companies. This is based on China's strategy to remove the earlier preferences for inward foreign direct investment and to support, instead, the growth of indigenous companies. At the same time, the Chinese market presents such a potential that attracts foreign firms to increasingly invest in the country. China has a strong position in competing for investments: its aspiration for higher technology, together with its labor resources, gives China an unique advantage in bargaining with foreign firms over investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since it was first introduced in the late 1990s, the concept of deliberative democracy has had policy appeal for both Chinese policymakers and scholars. The Chinese government has recently introduced various deliberative institutions in a top-down manner to address diverse governance challenges. Deliberation at the level of civil society, however, has remained largely limited under the Chinese authoritarian regime setting. This paper illustrates how Chinese civil society actors have increasingly exerted bottom-up pressure to attain a greater degree of deliberation, transparency, and accountability in policymaking, by using the case of a series of anti-dam campaigns conducted by environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) over the past decade. Throughout their campaigns, ENGOs have urged both the central and local governments to adopt more participatory and transparent policymaking and examine the potential social and environmental impacts of large dams. They have done so particularly by invoking the very laws and policies that the government has recently introduced. This study suggests that future research on deliberative democracy in China should pay greater attention to non-state actors and their roles in practicing and promoting bottom-up deliberation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jiuzhaigou National Park (JNP) is a site of global conservation significance. Conservation policies in JNP include the implementation of two national reforestation programs to increase forest cover and the exclusion of local land-use. We use archaeological excavation, ethnographic interviews, remote sensing and vegetation surveys to examine the implications of these policies for non-forest, montane meadows. We find that Amdo Tibetan people cultivated the valley for >2,000 years, creating and maintaining meadows through land clearing, burning and grazing. Meadows served as sites for gathering plants and mushrooms and over 40 % of contemporary species are ethnobotanically useful. Remote sensing analyses indicate a substantial (69.6 %) decline in meadow area between 1974 and 2004. Respondents report a loss of their 'true history' and connections to the past associated with loss of meadows. Conservation policies intended to preserve biodiversity are unintentionally contributing to the loss of these ecologically and culturally significant meadow habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the understanding of cropland change and its driving factors is a current focus for policy decision-makers in China. The datasets of cropland and cropland changes from the 1970s to the 2000s were used to explore whether climate change has produced spatio-temporal changes to cropland in northern China since the 1970s. Two representative indicators of heat and water resources, which are important determinants of crop growth and productivity, were considered to track climate change, including active accumulated temperatures ≥10 °C (AAT10) and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). Our results showed that rapid cropland change has occurred in northern China since the 1970s, and the area of cropland reclamation (10.23 million ha) was much greater than that of abandoned cropland (2.94 million ha). In the 2000s, the area of cropland with AAT10 higher than 3,000 °C·d increased, while the area of cropland with an SPEI greater than 0.25 decreased compared to the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. It appears that climate warming has provided thermal conditions that have aided rapid cropland reclamation in northern China since the 1970s, and drier climatic conditions did not become a limiting factor for cropland reclamation, especially from the 1990s to the 2000s. Approximately 70 % of cropland reclamation areas were located in warmer but drier regions from the 1990s to the 2000s, and approximately 40 % of cropland abandonment occurred in warmer and wetter conditions that were suitable for agriculture during the periods from the 1970s to the 1980s and the 1990s to the 2000s. Our results suggest that climate change can be considered a driving factor of cropland change in the past several decades in northern China, in addition to socioeconomic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tackling climate change is a global challenge and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the organisation charged with communicating the risks, dangers and mechanisms underlying climate change to both policy makers and the general public. The IPCC has traditionally used words (e.g., ‘likely’) in place of numbers (‘70 % chance’) to communicate risk and uncertainty information. The IPCC assessment reports have been published in six languages, but the consistency of the interpretation of these words cross-culturally has yet to be investigated. In two studies, we find considerable variation in the interpretation of the IPCC’s probability expressions between the Chinese and British public. Whilst British interpretations differ somewhat from the IPCC’s prescriptions, Chinese interpretations differ to a much greater degree and show more variation. These results add weight to continuing calls for the IPCC to make greater use of numbers in its forecasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road transportation has attracted extensive attention throughout the world because of its high energy demands and numerous externalities. Sustainable road transportation has thus become a great challenge for politicians and decision-makers all over the world. There have been a series of studies indicating that appropriate pricing of fuel can be both effective and efficient for reducing overconsumption of transport fuel. However, relatively little research has been done on fuel price approaches in developing country contexts. For a country like China, where road traffic today is growing more than in other countries, there is a strategic interest to do more economic analyses of fair and efficient pricing of fuel. In this study, we present a strategic assessment of fuel pricing in energy conservation and CO reduction from road transportation in China, both in a retrospective and a prospective perspective. First of all, the correlation between fuel price and road transport gasoline demand, based upon data from 1995 to 2007, was examined with an econometric model. Secondly, on basis of the elasticity model, the potential reductions with respect to fuel demand and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions as a consequence of a strategic fuel tax implementation in China were examined up to 2030. The results indicate that such strategic fuel taxation can play a considerable role in steering the growth of road transport gasoline demand, and thus also Chinese GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking into account the fact of global economic integration, this paper improves the RICE model and the MRICES model, and establishes a new integrated assessment model MRICES-2012, which takes Ramsey utility as the standard of fairness. Based on the model, schemes which meet the global emission mitigation targets as well as the interests of developing countries are simulated to assess the international fairness of emission reduction. Therefore, a new feasible scheme is proposed, which can not only reach the Copenhagen Consensus but also ensure interests of every country. Specifically speaking, the US and Japan cut emissions 80% and 70% respectively by 2050 relative to the 1990 level; the EU and other developed countries cut 80% by 2050 relative to 1990 level; high human development countries cut 50% by 2050 relative to 1990 level; all above-mentioned countries start emission reduction from 2020 and keep emission on 2050 level by 2100; China begins emission reduction from 2030 and cuts emission 15% by 2050 and 25% by 2100 relative to 2005 level; medium human development countries keep emission on 2020 level by 2100; low human development countries do not take part in reduction on emission intensity and global emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is a large country by area. In situ monitoring of the environment cannot meet the demand of the society. For large areas, remote sensing is the only viable technology for environmental monitoring of the entire area. Although satellite observation capabilities as well as remotely sensed data acquired on board of satellites from both within and outside China are widely available, research is rare that targets the entire territory of China for environmental monitoring. In this paper, the process of environmental change has been categorized into changes in driving forces, environmental change, materials transport and transformation, concentration and abundance change, exposure and infection change of human and ecosystems, and impacts. The potential in monitoring changes in these various aspects is assessed. The progress of environmental change monitoring over the entire territory of China is reviewed. It is suggested that at the methodological level, remote sensing should not only be applied to observation and experiments as well as understanding the change mechanism, but also be coupled with environmental simulation and forecasting so as to support environmental policy making. At the application level, remote sensing should be used beyond its traditional application fields to include species diversity, biological invasion, public health, air and water quality monitoring. Finally, at the technical level, systematic research should be devoted to the improvement of operational and automatic use of remotely sensed data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the logarithmic curves of the per capita GDP and the urbanization, with the traditional environmental Kuznets equation, this paper presented a coupling equation showing the relationship between urbanization and the atmospheric environment. Based on the 'double exponential' coupling curve, the principles of flattening, advancing and fast-falling that new coupling curve should be followed were discussed. According to the two indicators of environmental assessment, namely the treatment cost and the deterioration degree of the environment, a new dual four times matrix model with the corresponding countermeasures and environment policy were introduced. Taking Shandong Province as an example, the coupling relationship between urbanization and atmospheric environment was investigated. The coupling curve showed that it was in running-in stage, and atmospheric quality tended to be improved. SO curve fluctuated more significantly compared with soot and industrial dust curves. The matrix model shows that the combination of flattening principle and advancing principle is preferable for SO emissions, but the fast-falling principle is recommended for soot and industrial dust emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's capital-intensive, export-oriented, spectacular economic growth since launching its open-door policy and economic reforms in late 1978 not only has created jobs and has lifted millions of the Chinese people out of poverty, but also has given rise to unprecedented environmental pollution and CO emissions. While estimates of the embedded CO emissions in China's trade differ, both single-country studies for China and global studies show a hefty chunk of China's CO emissions embedded in trade. This portion of CO emissions had helped to turn China into the world's largest carbon emitter, and is further widening its gap with the second largest emitter. This raises the issue of who should be responsible for this portion of emissions and bearing the carbon cost of exports. China certainly wants importers to cover some, if not all, of that costs. While China's stance is understandable, this paper has argued from a broad and balanced perspective that if this is pushed too far, it will not help to find solutions to this issue. On the contrary, it can be to China's disadvantage for a number of reasons. However, aligning this responsibility with China does not necessarily suggest the sole reliance on domestic actions. In that context, the paper recommends specific actions that need to be taken internationally as well as domestically in order to effectively control the embedded CO emissions in China's trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines whether there is reciprocity between the legitimating effects of China's regime at home and abroad and how global governance and legitimacy interact in the case of China. This is done through an analysis of Chinese climate politics and China's engagement in international climate negotiations and governance, especially its behavior during and after the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December 2009 and the Chinese regime's efforts to legitimate this behavior. While China's role in international climate governance was disputed at the Copenhagen Summit, China contributed constructively to brokering a deal with significant implications for a new climate governance architecture suiting China's preferences and being aligned with China's core interests. China defended the procedural logic of the current global climate governance framework and managed to contain institutional change. Based on Anthony Giddens' proposition about 'radicalism at the centre', it is argued that China's national and international discourse on and actions associated with climate change and the international negotiations about the new climate governance architecture seem to be able to reinforce each other and may well have a mutual legitimacy augmenting effect for the 'radicals at the centre' of the Chinese regime, provided that they ensure consequential logic through targeted reduction of GHG emissions and a 'green transformation' of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's environmental degeneration carries fundamental political, economic and social implications for its future development and its international reputation. The complexity of the challenge is underlined by the variety of environmental issues China is confronted with. Among them we can identify water shortage, desertification, industrial and urban air pollution, acid rain, and extreme weather patterns. China is already a major polluter and its growth focus as well as the rapid urbanization process we can observe will further increase the pressure on the environment. China's ability or inability of formulating an environmental friendly development strategy is of critical importance for its future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China represents the third largest economy and the highest level of national carbon dioxide emissions when compared to other nations across the globe. Yet, little social science research has focused on the environmentally oriented behaviors of Chinese nationals, key to understanding levels of environmental impact. This study examines, in China, gender differences in environmentally oriented behaviors, environmental knowledge, and general environmental concern. Making use of path analyses, we identify a pattern of gender differences similar to common findings in the West: women demonstrated greater participation in environmental behaviors inside of the home (e.g., recycling), while outside of the home (e.g., environmental organization donations) no gendered patterns were exhibited. However, Chinese women expressed lower levels of concern than men—a finding opposite of most Western studies. Also distinct from other settings, in China, higher levels of knowledge regarding environmental issues did, indeed, translate into pro-environmental behaviors—thereby not exhibiting the knowledge-behavior gap demonstrated elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming tends to be the major characteristics of the dramatic global climate change. To deal with these changes, the impact of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission on Chinese future economic and social development has to be assessed. In this paper, a Regional Integrated model of Climate and the Economy (RICE), which is well known and accepted widely, has been used for Chinese economic assessment of climate change after introduction, assimilation and verification. Based on a sensitivity analysis of technical parameters in the RICE model and constrained targets proposed for energy saving and emissions reduction technological advance programs of China from 2000 to 2050, the economic impact of the programs is examined. The results indicate that when technology advances, Chinese CO2 emission, climate loss, and the growth rate of atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature will all decrease. It is assumed that in 2010, the CO2 emission is 20% lower than in 2005, CO2 emission in 2050 would only double the level in 2000, the accumulative CO2 emission would be decreased by 12.4 GtC, and the atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature in 2050 would reduce by 35 GtC and 0.04°C respectively from 2000 to 2050. The accumulative climate loss from 2000 to 2050 will drop down by 4.6 billion dollar, which only accounts for 6% of the global total benefits. However, the economic benefit the developed countries will obtain is 10 times that for China under such a technological advance scenario. The decrease of the CO2 emission control rate is 1% in cooperation policy while 4.6% in non-cooperation policy, which would relieve China's burden in the control of CO2 total emission and thereby benefit China in participation of the international cooperation for CO2 emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life of impoverished people can be damaged by adverse environmental conditions, but these people can also be harmed by environmental conservation programs, particularly when the guiding policy ignores their needs. To improve the social and economic effectiveness of environmental protection, governments must understand that the ultimate goal of environmental protection is to improve human livelihoods, not just restore vegetation. The elimination of poverty by the development of sustainable, long-term enterprises is a precondition for successful ecological restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization is one of the most important anthropogenic activities that create extensive environmental implications at both local and global scales. Dynamic urban expansion models are useful tools to understand the urbanization process, project its spatiotemporal dynamics and provide useful information for assessing the environmental implications of urbanization. A hybrid urban expansion model (NNSCA model) was proposed to simulate rapid urban growth in a typical industrial city, Dongying, China, by coupling a artificial-neural-network-based stochastic cellular automata model and several socioeconomic indictors, i.e., the per capita income of the rural population, the per capita income of the urban population, population and gross domestic products of the city. Good conformity between simulated and actual urban patterns suggested that the NNSCA model was able to effectively simulate historic urban growth and to generate realistic urban patterns. A series of scenario analyses suggested that the expanding urban would threaten the ecosystem health of coastal wetlands in the city unless environmental protection actions are taken in the future. The NNSCA model provides abilities to assess future urban growth under various planning and management scenarios, and can be integrated into ecological or environmental process models to evaluate urbanization’s environmental implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes a thematic approach to review the existing literature (in both Chinese and English) of environmental politics in the broad context of China studies. Examined themes include state and environmental governance, public awareness and environmental social activism, and environmental foreign relations. Findings and arguments are assessed with two important questions in mind: What differentiates the environmental arena from Chinese politics in general? What new insights into Chinese politics can be gained from case studies of environmental protection? Scholarship on environmental politics contributes not only empirical findings, but also critical challenges to the conventional knowledge and frameworks of Chinese politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To redress its deteriorating environment, Chinese leaders have elevated the environmental agenda in its political discourse, especially at the recent 17th Party Congress. In this article, I answer whether the changes and reforms enacted at the 17th Party Congress and codified in the National Eleventh Five-year Plan for Environmental Protection (PEP) address the flaws of the Chinese environmental governance regime. First I identify the critical shortcomings of China’s environmental governance. Then I examine the PEP, focusing on the reforms that correspond with each of these shortcomings. I find that the PEP reforms are insufficient in addressing the shortcomings of the Chinese environmental governance regime. However, in examining empirical evidence, I find that despite almost non-existent institutional reforms, China’s environmental performance has improved. Finally, in the conclusion, I summarize my findings, examine the implications of the paradoxical increase in environmental performance without corresponding governance reform, and suggest areas of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the world's most populous country and has one of the largest territories. As such, Chinese attitudes and behavior with regard to environmental issues are key factors in protecting the world's natural resources and environment. In this study, we surveyed a random sample of 5000 citizens from six Chinese provinces (Beijing, Shanghai, Hubei, Hunan, Henan, and Shaanxi) to understand their environmental attitudes, contrasts between the attitudes of citizens in different demographic groups, and their willingness to invest in environmental conservation. The results indicated that policymakers and the public increasingly recognize the key role that environmental restoration plays in protecting the overall health of the environment. In total, 91% of the interviewees believed that the environment had deteriorated severely during the past decade, compared with 44% in a 1999 survey. In addition, 78% of the interviewees supported their government's investment of more than 300 billion RMB (;10% of total government revenues in 2004) in the "Grain for Green Project," which discouraged unsustainable land use by compensating farmers and herders for abandoning farming and grazing on marginal land. There was a strong correlation between environmental attitudes and net income and education levels, and other differences were based on the respondents' age, gender, job, and location. Net income and education level were the key factors that affected environmental attitudes. Based on these results, we propose that successful environmental restoration projects must include both an education component and an economic development component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the implications of carbon emission trends for global climate policy. Emissions in the long term will become less rapid due to the future development of China, the maintenance of global oil prices and long-term economic prospects for development. In order to understand better the uncertainties of future emissions in the absence of climate policies, there is a need to assess the consequences of alternative climate policies.

Northeast China comprises Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning Provinces, with a total area of 790,000 km² and a population of about 107 million. Northeast China, located at relatively high latitudes, (from about 39 to 53°N), is one of the coolest regions in China with long and cold winters, a short growth season and frequent cold extreme events, which are adverse to agricultural production. However, since the 1980s, Northeast China has experienced significant warming with annual mean temperature rising by 1.0-2.5°C. The increase of accumulated temperature, the extension of the growth period and the recession of summer cool disasters all contributed to improved conditions for crop growth and led to a northward movement of the agricultural climate zone. In addition, the adaptation to warming including the adjustment of crop composition and structure as well as the adoption of advanced technologies greatly facilitated agricultural development. As a result, total grain production in the region increased rapidly. This paper describes in detail climate change, adaptation measures and final agricultural outcomes, alongside with economic and political factors and the role of different political actors in Northeast China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of several studies on environmental geochemistry. Some of the abstracts presented include "Biogeochemical Cycling of Nutrients in Karstic Catchments, Southwestern China: Linkages to Changes of Eco-Environments," by Congqiang Liu and "Emerging Organic Contamination in China," by Guibin Jiang and colleagues.

The United States and China are responsible for nearly 40 per cent of total annual greenhouse gas emissions. Global climatic stabilization cannot succeed without the participation of people and organizations in the PRC and the USA. Given the likelihood of continued political paralysis at the national level in both countries, it is important to assess the strengths, weaknesses, and potential of nongovernmental actors in bringing about durable reductions in GHG emissions. Consumption trajectories present one of the most intractable barriers to anthropogenic GHG-emissions reductions and to long-term climatic stabilization. Nordlund and Garvill's (2003) model is adapted and applied in assessing prospects for value change, specific problem awareness, and sustainable-consumption behavior in the PRC and USA. The contributions of nonstate actors are elucidated when issue bundling (specifically links with stress reduction and healthy futures) and principle bundling are incorporated into the explanatory framework. The involvement of transnationally competent activists in emissions mitigation projects, value change, and durable sustainable-consumption practices provides a beacon for future possibilities. Chinese transnationals are a key overlooked and underestimated piece in the current emissions-reduction puzzle because of their critical position at the intersection of values, behavior change, and nongovernmental institutions directly and indirectly involved in climatic-change mitigation. Given their special U.S./P.R.C. leverage, other actors concerned with building a sustainable-consumption movement and with climatic stabilization are likely to benefit from devoting increased attention and responsibilities to this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the social aspects of the global climate change policy-making process in China. Evolution of China's environmental policy from 1949; Summary of the position held by the Chinese government on the subject of global warming; implications for technology policy; Environmental impact assessment.

Focuses on pollution and the environment in China. Description of China's environmental policy; Global implications of China's environmental pollution; Encouragement of foreign trade and investment for environmentally friendly technology transfer.

The article reports on Chinese president Xi Jinping's September 2015 announcement of plans for a Chinese national emissions-trading system to limit greenhouse-gas production. The plan is related to a 2014 climate change agreement between the U.S. and China. Details on other joint environmental plans by China and the U.S. are presented. It is suggested that the cap-and-trade program could contribute to the development of a global climate pact ahead of United Nations (UN) climate talks in December 2015.

The authors discuss clean air strategy for China. They mention that the country have to overcome two major factors to meet the country's ambitious air quality policy such as the increase in fossil-fuel usage and the decentralized system of environmental enforcement. They state that China needs to promote development concerning the constrained fossil-fuel use instead of using more energy to ensure economic growth.

In this article, the author comments on a study on ecological migration (EM) in the Tibetan Plateau of China. He stresses that conservation Tibetan grasslands greatly contribute to the ecological services in the region including carbon storage, soil erosion control, and water regulation. However, he discusses that the EM government policies may affect the livelihood of Tibetan pastoralists and the community surrounding the area.

In this article the author discusses the Global Green New Deal, an initiative taken by the United Nations Environment Programme for the revival of global economy. It informs that China and South Korea, member countries of Group of Twenty (G 20) have invested in environmental stimulus projects but other member countries of this group still need to invest in order to save the planet and the economy. He feels members of G 20 should take a global leadership in promoting green recovery. He says that the biggest failure of the G 20 is that it has neglected to address the economic and environmental vulnerability of the world's poor.

The article reports on the commitment of the central government in China to intensify efforts in cleaning up the environment. However, the intention of government has been bombarded with various challenges making it difficult to assure that the implementation of changes in rules and environmental regulations is successful. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE)and the Natural Resources Defense Council revealed that a remarkable number of cities violated several environmental laws. The information which was released in the Internet aims to alert the government and exert effort in responding to the problem.