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The proliferation of green industrial policy strategies around the world is taking place within a broader global context of a turn toward deglobalization and the pursuit of national self-sufficiency. The political economy of domestic renewable energy support and the basic principles of global trade regimes are in direct conflict, with direct implications for nations' abilities to transition to low-carbon economies. Many are calling for decoupling clean energy supply chains from China, yet such responses could slow the global clean energy transition, increasing the cost of deployment in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a conceptual and analytical framework of states' legitimacy-seeking to comprehensively investigate the motivation behind China's climate and environment policy. While previous research has largely overlooked political factors that underlie China's climate policy, this paper argues that these factors are crucial in understanding China's policy changes, which are evident at both domestic and international levels. By examining sources such as government documents, leaders' speeches and authoritative literature, this study contends that China's climate change initiatives are part of a broader effort to enhance domestic and international legitimacy. The issue of climate change has become highly politicised in China under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, and it serves as a crucial test of the ruling party and the state's capacity to govern effectively. As such, legitimacy-seeking is the key driver that links China's domestic measures and international commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, China's carbon emissions were 10 billion tons, about 29% of global ones. As the largest carbon emitter in the world, China's heavy carbon emission pressure will affect not only its sustainable development, but also the global climate change situation and human survival. In order to achieve a positive interaction among renewable energy technological innovation, environmental regulation intensity and carbon pressure, and effectively alleviate China's carbon pressure, the dynamic interaction among the three aspects was investigated by taking 2008–2017 panel data of China mainland as the research sample, measuring carbon pressure level and renewable energy technological innovation, establishing panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model, and adopting impulse response function and variance decomposition. It was found that a mutual promoting effect exists between renewable energy technological innovation and environmental regulation intensity, and also between renewable energy technological innovation and carbon pressure, while a mutual inhibiting effect between environmental regulation intensity and carbon pressure. The variance decomposition results show that carbon stress level has the highest contribution to the long-term variance of renewable energy technological innovation except for the variable itself, which is 10.2%. Renewable energy technological innovation has the highest variance contribution to environmental regulation intensity, which is 8.2%, and environmental regulation intensity has the highest variance contribution to carbon stress level, which is 28.1%. The conclusions of present study are helpful to clarify the dynamic interaction among renewable energy technological innovation, environmental regulation intensity and carbon pressure, further improve environmental regulation policy and renewable energy technological innovation R&D decision-making, and provide an effective way for China and the world to alleviate carbon pressure. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jointly with the Global North, the rise of the Global South has come at a high cost to the environment. Driven by its high energy intensity and the use of fossil fuels, the South has contributed a significant portion of global emissions during the last 30 years, and is now contributing some 63% of today's total GHG emissions (including land-use change and forestry). Similar to the Global North, the Global South's emissions are heavily concentrated: India and China alone account for some 60% and the top 10 countries for some 78% of the group's emissions, while some 120 countries account for only 22%. Without highlighting such differences, it makes little sense to use the term 'Global South'. Its members are affected differently, and contribute differently to global climate change. They neither share a common view, nor do they pursue joint interests when it comes to international climate negotiations. Instead, they are organised into more than a dozen subgroups of the global climate regime. There is no single climate strategy for the Global South, and climate action will differ enormously from country to country. Furthermore, just and equitable transitions may be particularly challenging for some countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sixth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) scenarios provide opportunities to explore global climate and pollution mitigation pathways with socioeconomic features, but they might be limited on regional-scale projections due to inadequate consideration of local policies. Here, we simulated China's PM2.5 air quality with local policy-based scenarios (Dynamic Projection for Emissions in China (DPEC)) and the CMIP6 scenarios. We found both emission inventories can reproduce China's base-year PM2.5 and chemical aerosols while using DPEC emissions could better match in-situ observations. In addition, DPEC mitigation scenarios can better capture China's PM2.5 decline during 2015-2019 (22% under SSP2-45-policy and 30% under SSP1-26-best) with observations (~28%) than CMIP6 emissions. With the effects of current-year bias and inadequate considerations of pollution control policies, PM2.5 projections in 2030 and 2050 with CMIP6 mitigation scenarios are 42%-48% (9-13 µg/m3) and 59%-73% (8-12 µg/m3) higher than projections with DEPC. Our study suggests the community should incorporate more region-specific environmental policy in future scenario designs. Plain Language Summary Global emission scenarios might be limited on regional-scale air quality projections because of inadequate consideration of local environmental policy. Here, we simulated China's air quality variations through 2050 with global emission data sets and local policy-based emission scenarios. Both global and local emissions can reasonably estimate China's air quality; however, estimations with local emission scenarios are more correlated with surface observations and can better capture China's rapid air quality improvement during 2015-2019. Local policy deficiencies and current year bias further make future air quality projections driven by global emission scenarios 42%-73% higher than driven by local policy-based scenarios. Our findings could offer insights for the research community to incorporate more detailed regional information in future global scenario designs, which might help to better investigate the climate change impacts and improve global scenario applicability to regional scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of using green finance policies to prevent climate-related systemic risk (CRSR) while promoting low-carbon production is of great concern. Despite its significance for a stable transition to low-carbon energy, this topic remains underexplored in the literature. Our study examines the impact of monetary policies promoting low-carbon development on CRSR based on China's low-carbon transition scenario. To achieve this, we develop a financial network model with a forward-looking climate stress-testing framework. This model captures banks' heterogeneous behaviors regarding carbon asset allocation and the systemic feedback effects of climate policy shocks in a multilayer network. Our findings reveal that targeted reductions in the required reserve ratio (RRR) and carbon reduction re-lending policies have significant and distinct effects on CRSR. We also observe that larger banks tend to have higher systemic importance and are more responsive to adjustments in low-carbon monetary policies. By contrast, relatively smaller banks demonstrate greater vulnerability to climate policy shocks. Additionally, these policies influence CRSR through mechanisms involving credit restructuring and interbank network interconnectedness. This study provides valuable insights for enhancing low-carbon financial policies and facilitating a stable low-carbon transition. • The impact of monetary policies promoting low-carbon development on climate-related systemic risk (CRSR) is analyzed. • A financial network with a climate stress-testing framework in China's low-carbon transition scenario is constructed. • Targeted reductions in the required reserve ratio (RRR) and carbon reduction re-lending policies significantly affect CRSR. • Their impact shows apparent differences in quantity- and price-based adjustments. • Influencing mechanisms based on credit restructuring and interbank network interconnectedness are verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and environmental protection have become increasingly important in China. The country has formulated and strictly enforced a series of policies to address climate change directly. This article argues for the importance of studying China's climate change policies from a gender perspective, particularly given the speed and import of action. It does so in three steps. First, it examines gendered differences in perceptions of climate change and in the impacts of climate change policies. Second, it examines the environment-related content in China's gender policies and the gender-related content in its climate change policies. Through the comparison between these two, we argue that it is easier to include climate change in gender policies in China than to include gender in climate change policies and that the integration of these two is anything but robust. Third, we analyze the multiple and varied roles played by women in climate change policy making, as well as women's conspicuous absence from some key high-level political conversations. The article concludes that gender awareness in Chinese climate change policy needs to be supplemented by gender sensitivity and we suggest some measures to move toward this goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the space of a few years, China's global image with regard to environmental matters has significantly improved. Particularly since Xi Jinping's coming-to-power in 2012 China's reputation in the global climate change regime has improved markedly and it has gained accolades for a new determination to reverse environmental degradation at home. China's incipient green transformation is partly due to a new actor constellation in environmental governance, a striking feature of which is the prominence of ad hoc campaigns that offer quick results but that may undermine the creation of law-based enforcement mechanisms in the long term. Another development -China's increasing use of emerging technologies and big data analytics - has given rise to new forms of government-business alliances. These new players and innovative approaches have injected momentum into China's environmental governance system and suggest that, contrary to conventional wisdom, authoritarian regimes can be responsive to citizen demands under certain circumstances. Yet it remains to be seen whether long-term environmental goals can be met, due to a pervasive lack of accountability, the weakening of civil society and heavy constraints on public participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Individual Low-carbon Behavior Rewarding System (ILBRS) is a new Chinese environmental policy that aims to guide public participation in sustainable development through applying a range of incentive mechanisms. It is regarded as an important and effective way of reducing carbon emissions in response to climate change. However, knowledge of the influencing factors of support for the ILBRS is still scattered and lacks systematic analysis. This study is one of the first literatures to explore public support for ILBRS through a large sample of longitudinal data relying on psychological theory. Based on the Responsible Environmental Behavior model, we established a mechanism that consists of three levels of factors affecting public support for the ILBRS. These factors involve individual characteristics, individual perception, and willingness of performing other low-carbon behaviors. The results of a longitudinal panel survey at one-year interval with 2,324 valid responses indicated that connectedness to nature, perception that climate change is happening, willingness to sort waste and to use green energy could significantly and positively predict public support for the ILBRS. Based on the findings of this study, we provide practical suggestions for policy makers to further improve the implementation of the ILBRS by raising public awareness of climate change and integrating it with other relevant environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emission reduction (CER) comes to be the principle in most countries particularly China, the largest carbon emitter. For finding an efficient solution, the priority is to find the key impact factors (KIFs) of carbon emission. Previous studies for identifying KIFs, which partially selected only a few potential impact factors (PIFs), are inconsistent in their findings. This study aims to explore the KIFs of carbon emission in China among 43 PIFs, which comprehensively covers 30 relevant studies. The KIFs in China are identified using the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model with correlation analysis, partial correlation analysis and stepwise regression. The findings of this study are as follows: (1) China's carbon emission has five KIFs: the real GDP per capita, urbanization rate, ratio of tertiary to secondary industry, ratio of renewable energy, and fixed assets investment; (2) the most significant carbon emission contributor is real GDP per capita and the most significant carbon emission inhibitor is urbanization rate. This study provides the reliable KIFs for governors' targeted decision-making on CER, and policy implications from the identified KIFs are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black carbon mitigation has received increasing attention for its potential contribution to both climate change mitigation and air pollution control. Although different bottom-up models concerned with unit mitigation costs of various technologies allow the assessment of alternative policies for optimized cost-effectiveness, the lack of adequate data often forced many reluctant explicit and implicit assumptions that deviate away from actual situations of rural residential energy consumption in developing countries, where most black carbon emissions occur. To gauge the theory-practice gap in black carbon mitigation – the unit cost differences that lie between what is estimated in the theory and what is practically achieved on the ground – this study conducted an extensive field survey and analysis of nine mitigation technologies in rural China, covering both northern and southern regions with different residential energy consumption patterns. With a special focus on two temporal characteristics of those technologies – lifetimes and annual utilization rates, this study quantitatively measured the unit cost gaps and explain the technical as well as sociopolitical mechanisms behind. Structural and behavioral barriers, which have affected the technologies’ performance, are discussed together with policy implications to narrow those gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how piloting programmes in China can promote local policy innovations. By using one of the piloting emission trading schemes (ETS) in Guangdong province as a case study, it is argued that the main features of the piloting experiments, particularly in the climate change domain, are largely different from previous local marketization experiments that dominate the reform period of China. Whereas previous experiments are often characterized as bottom-up or indigenous initiatives with strong patronage relations to the pro-reform politicians at central level, the current piloting programmes are often crafted in a top-down fashion that is often misaligned with local market or corporate interests. Hence, local policy innovations are designed, developed and brokered by the local state officers, in order to bridge this central–local interest gap. As a result, successful implementation of these policy innovations largely depends on local political traditions, bureaucratic culture and perceptions of distinctive development needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has the world’s highest levels of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, and its adoption of optimal measures to address climate change is extremely important. In this article, we assess the performance of various Chinese policies aimed at addressing climate change in terms of cost effectiveness, cost-benefit efficiency, and their contribution to a reduction in emissions with a new single-region model, DEMETER-CCPE. Our analysis shows that the performance of these Chinese policies strongly depends on the principles and indicators used in the evaluation. When climate-specific cost indicators are considered, the mixed policy performs best in terms of cost reduction. When cost-efficiency indicators are used, a single policy performs better to some extent. From the perspective of evaluating the contribution to emissions reduction, the development of non-fossil-fuel-based energy technologies offers the greatest opportunity for reducing emissions in a mixed-policy scenario. Finally, this article study possible ‘burden’ and ‘free-rider’ scenarios in order to explore the effect of different levels of joint actions between China and the rest of the world (ROW) on a performance evaluation of policies to address climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the making of local climate governance in the Chinese setting where central-local inter-governmental relations continue to play critical part in almost every policy domain. Through analysing the climate responses of the three provincial-level governments at the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), the paper argues that the process of “experimentation under hierarchy” is relevant to understanding the evolving of the subnational climate regime in the YRD region. We find the preponderance of the central authorities in initiating national climate strategies and galvanising responses at the local level. Meanwhile, provincial governments have been able to leverage climate plans and actions to achieve their own gains. These findings suggest that any optimism about subnational climate activism in a Chinese setting has to be mixed with caution. In fact, the shadow of hierarchical authority structure lingers and plays important part in the initiation of subnational response and spurring climate responses and innovations from below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method, we decomposed factors affecting the national carbon intensity (NCI) in China at a multi-regional level. A comparative analysis of regional contributions in different Five-Year Plan (5YP) periods revealed that the energy structure had inhibitory effects on NCI during the 9th and 10th 5YP periods, but had promoting effects during the 11th and start of the 12th 5YP periods. The energy structure had a strong inhibitory impact in eastern, north-eastern, and northern regions of China, but only a slight impact in central, northern, south-western, and north-western regions. Energy intensity is a major factor and had a strong inhibitory effect on NCI except during the 10th 5YP period. Energy intensity had a strong inhibitory effect in eastern and northern regions, but only a slight impact in north-western and southern regions, especially in Hainan, Ningxia, Xinjiang, and Qinghai provinces. Overall, proportional output in China had a promoting effect on NCI, which indicates regional economic development was not coordinated. The combined effects of regional carbon intensity (RCI) and proportional output determined changes in NCI, and RCI had a strong effect on NCI. Regions with high proportional output and large carbon emissions had a great impact on NCI. The total effect in developed areas such as eastern, northern, and north-eastern regions was strongly inhibitory, while the impact was slight in relatively less developed areas such as northwestern and southern regions. Some policy implications arising from our study results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land degradation is a global environmental problem that jeopardizes human safety and socioeconomic development. To alleviate severe soil erosion and desertification due to deforestation and overgrazing, China has implemented historically unprecedented large-scale afforestation. However, few studies have accounted for the resulting imbalance between water supply (primarily precipitation) and water consumption (evapotranspiration), which will affect ecosystem health and socioeconomic development. We compared the water balance results between restoration by means of afforestation and restoration using the potential natural vegetation to guide future ecological restoration planning and environmental policy development. Based on estimates of water consumption from seven evapotranspiration models, we discuss the consequences for water security using data obtained since 1952 under China's large-scale afforestation program. The models estimated that afforestation will increase water consumption by 559–2354 m 3 /ha annually compared with natural vegetation. Although afforestation is a potentially important approach for environmental restoration, China's current policy has not been tailored to local precipitation conditions, and will have therefore exacerbated water shortages and decrease the ability to achieve environmental policy goals. Our analysis shows how, both in China and around the world, future ecological restoration planning must account for the water balance to ensure effective and sustainable environmental restoration policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New developments in consumption-based emissions accounting suggest that the reductions claimed by wealthy, environmentally progressive nations have often come at the expense of increased emissions elsewhere – and thus net growth in global GHG concentrations. This paper traces Sweden's attempts to translate growing recognition of displaced emissions into national environmental policy. Drawing on multi-sited ethnographic research and policy analysis in Sweden and China, we argue that while the logical implications of consumption-based analyses point to the need to address production and consumption as an integrated system, complex governance challenges and the political precariousness of these ideas have thus far limited policy to the reinvention of consumer awareness campaigns and an international extension of long-standing ecological efficiency efforts. We argue that consumption-based emissions indicators justify more ambitious demand-side policy response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of the introduction of policy documents and legislation aimed to implement the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) of China in 2016. It considers whether the resource tax design could aid China build a low-carbon, energy-efficient industrial system and meet its national plan on climate change. It discusses the use of domestic programmes by China to penalise air pollution and confront resource misuse.

This study estimates how carbon price affects diffusion of low carbon technologies using data collected from 60 iron & steel companies in China. The analysis indicates that the industry is familiar with related key energy saving and low carbon technologies and has made much progress in energy saving, but efforts in carbon management need improving. An average payback time threshold of 4.1 years was found as regards decision in invest in technology. The three target technologies were adopted by companies to different extents. Carbon emissions pricing was found to be ineffective in promoting the scale-up or further adoption of economically advantageous technologies such as dry top pressure recovery turbine (Dry TRT) and energy management centre (EMC) technology. A moderate carbon price for sintering waste heat recovery power generation (Sintering WHR), which has adoption potential in China's iron & steel industry, may generate comparatively significant effects for diffusion. This research sheds light on how diffusion of low carbon technologies would be affected and the consequences thereof on climate policy development for the target sector in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The few systematic international comparisons of climate policy strength made so far have serious weaknesses, particularly those that assign arbitrary weightings to different policy instrument types in order to calculate an aggregate score for policy strength. This article avoids these problems by ranking the six biggest emitters by far – China, the US, the EU, India, Russia, and Japan – on a set of six key policy instruments that are individually potent and together representative of climate policy as a whole: carbon taxes, emissions trading, feed-in tariffs, renewable energy quotas, fossil fuel power plant bans, and vehicle emissions standards. The results cast strong doubt on any idea that there is a clear hierarchy on climate policy with Europe at the top: the EU does lead on a number of policies but so does Japan. China, the US, and India each lead on one area. Russia is inactive on all fronts. At the same time climate policy everywhere remains weak compared to what it could be. Policy relevance This study enables climate policy strength, defined as the extent to which the statutory provisions of climate policies are likely to restrict GHG emissions if implemented as intended, to be assessed and compared more realistically across space and time. As such its availability for the six biggest emitters, which together account for over 70% of global CO2emissions, should facilitate international negotiations (1) by giving participants a better idea of where major emitters stand relative to each other as far as climate policy stringency is concerned, and (2) by identifying areas of weakness that need action. [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]

Relying on a recent survey of more than 3400 participants from China, Germany, and the US, this article empirically analyses citizens' perceptions of key guiding principles for sharing mitigation costs across countries, justification of climate policy and trust in climate policy. Our findings suggest that the ranking of the main principles for burden-sharing is identical in China, Germany, and the US: accountability followed by capability, egalitarianism, and sovereignty. Thus, on a general level, citizens across these countries seem to have a common (normative) understanding of fairness. We therefore find no evidence that citizens' (stated) fairness preferences are detrimental to future burden-sharing agreements. In all three countries a majority of citizens considers international climate policy to be justified, but citizens' perceptions differ across specific items and countries. Finally, a substantial portion of citizens in all countries exhibit a lack of trust in international climate agreements. Policy relevance Disagreement over the distribution of mitigation costs across countries is blocking current negotiations about a new international climate change agreement to be adopted in 2015. At the heart of this disagreement are different perceptions of distributive justice among those involved in climate policy making. Our findings show that there is no difference in the ranking of fairness principles across citizens in China, Germany, and the US, suggesting that the common ground for crafting a future agreement is larger than expected. In particular, the accountability principle should weigh heavily when deciding on the burden-sharing. In addition, our findings suggest that in order to gain support among citizens, international climate policy may need to take measures to improve trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because China has emerged as the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter in total annual emissions, to accelerate the pace of GHG emission reduction in China is important to the success of global efforts in addressing climate change. Carbon trading is a market mechanism and key instrument in the mitigation of climate change. This paper explores the policy process and development state to date of China׳s carbon-trade market to understand the emergence and development of that market and to understand what barriers are hampering China׳s carbon-trade market development. To achieve this goal, this paper introduces and analyzes China׳s status in the international market, examines the factors driving carbon-market launching by the Chinese government, and traces the development of mandatory carbon-emission trading and voluntary emission trading. It is argued that China׳s carbon-trading market is confronted with challenges such as the absence of a functional carbon-trading market, inaccuracy of the quota allocation, an imperfect trading mechanism, and lagging legislation. At the present stage, shortcomings such as having no real-time carbon price and dominated spot transactions differentiate China׳s trade market substantially from a functional system. A quick market integration of China׳s carbon market appears remote. It is suggested that specific measures be taken to promote the development of the Chinese carbon-trading market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China, which produces the largest percentage of global emissions, is an important player in global climate change governance and has the potential to change the global climate outlook. In the past decade, China has made significant progress in getting climate change on the national agenda and becoming a leader in setting greenhouse gas emissions targets. However, there are many challenges impeding the implementation of China's climate policies, including a lack of urgency and political will and low public awareness of climate change. Air pollution, on the other hand, due in part to public concern about adverse health effects and quality of life, has become an increasingly greater priority for the Chinese government. This paper aims to examine air pollution as a driver of climate governance and the potential synergy between China's climate policies and air pollution governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution focuses on the challenges that China is confronted with in the energy area and how existing energy policies and strategies are designed to address climate change, especially in the context of the upcoming UNFCCC COP21 in Paris and China's submitted INDC. This article discusses the need for two essential policy shifts in the energy and climate change area: (i) the shift from a purely quantitative targeting approach to a more diversified approach and (ii) the intrinsic challenge of moving to a coherent institutional and legislative approach. The article illustrates those challenges by presenting four low (er)-carbon technology case studies: solar PV, wind energy, shale gas and nuclear power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global environmental problems have significant natural and socioeconomic consequences. However, the consequences are often evaluated independently by ecologists and social scientists. In an effort to integrate the consequences of the two types of problem during ecological restoration and thereby improve future development of environmental policy, we used regression analysis and remote sensing to calculate the relative contributions of human activities, climate change, and socioeconomic development to land use and cover change during China’s huge investments in ecological restoration since the 1980s. We performed this analysis both for China as a whole, and for eight regions with distinctive ecological and social characteristics. We found that China’s fast socioeconomic development and decreasing rural population were dominant factors in ecological restoration, whereas direct human intervention was a paradoxical factor that did not always lead to recovery. However, the changes in vegetation cover and the dominant causal factors differed among the regions of China as a result of differences in local conditions. Because of the complexity of ecosystem restoration, a region-specific strategy based on integrating ecological and socioeconomic factors should be developed. In particular, we urge caution when considering single, monolithic approaches (such as the afforestation that is currently the main approach) because these approaches ignore the local limits imposed by ecological factors such as climate and soils and human factors such as socioeconomic characteristics; such approaches can be dangerous if they neglect key social or natural factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines China's policy and position in relation to the evolving climate change negotiations in order to explain how China is dealing with the dilemma of meeting its growing development needs while reducing GHG emissions. It argues that global climate governance requires steering and leadership to deal with the interlocked political process; that the developing countries (DCS) right to develop is challenged by the need for ecosystemic standards especially as climate change is seen as a zero-sum game as the more one country emits the less another one can. This is especially problematic as Industrialized countries (ICS) appear to be both unwilling and unable to increase growth without increasing emissions. This explains China's policy of insisting on its right to develop, of demanding that ics reduce their emissions and that they fulfil their obligations under the FCCC, while expressing its willingness to take on a voluntary target. The paper argues that China's state-led transition has eight unique characteristics that may allow it to lead as it moves beyond a no-regrets policy to a circular and green economy, cooperating with other DCS and mobilizing conscious green values in citizens. The question remains--will the initial success and scale of state-led transition lead the global green transition to a sustainable world? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's water resources are under increasing pressure from socioeconomic development, diet shifts, and climate change. Agriculture still concentrates most of the national water withdrawal. Moreover, a spatial mismatch in water and arable land availability--with abundant agricultural land and little water resources in the north-increases water scarcity and results in virtual water transfers from drier to wetter regions through agricultural trade. We use a general equilibrium welfare model and linear programming optimization to model interprovincial food trade in China. We combine these trade flows with province-level estimates of commodities' virtual water content to build China's domestic and foreign virtual water trade network. We observe large variations in agricultural water-use efficiency among provinces, in addition, some provinces particularly rely on irrigation vs. rainwater. We analyze the virtual water flow patterns and the corresponding water savings. We find that this interprovincial network is highly connected and the flow distribution is relatively homogeneous. A significant share of water flows is from international imports (20%), which are dominated by soy (93%). We find that China's domestic food trade is efficient in terms of rainwater but inefficient regarding irrigation, meaning that dry, irrigation-intensive provinces tend to export to wetter, less irrigation-intensive ones. Importantly, when incorporating foreign imports, China's soy trade switches from an inefficient system to a particularly efficient one for saving water resources (20 km3/y irrigation water savings, 41 km3/y total). Finally, we identify specific provinces (e.g.. Inner Mongolia) and products (e.g., corn) that show high potential for irrigation productivity improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid growing alarm over the rising atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases, increasing attention is being given to ‘geo-engineering’ technologies that could counteract some of the impacts of global warming by either reducing absorption of solar energy (solar radiation management (SRM)) or removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Geo-engineering has the potential to dramatically alter the dynamics of global climate change negotiations because it might cool the climate without constraining fossil fuel use. Some scholars have expressed concern that certain states may be tempted to act unilaterally. This paper assesses the approach that China is likely to adopt towards governance of SRM and the implications this holds for broader international climate negotiations. We survey Chinese public discourse, examine the policy factors that will influence China's position, and assess the likelihood of certain future scenarios. While Chinese climate scientists are keenly aware of the potential benefits of geo-engineering as well as its risks, we find that no significant constituency is currently promoting unilateral implementation of SRM. China will probably play a broadly cooperative role in negotiations toward a multilaterally governed geo-engineering programme but will seek to promote a distinctive developing world perspective that reflects concerns over sovereignty, Western imperialism and maintenance of a strict interpretation of the norm of common but differentiated responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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]

Abstract: We quantified the soil conservation service of ecosystems in China on a GIS platform using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and revealed spatial patterns and impacts of this service. The results showed that the total amount and mean capacity of soil conservation service in China were 214.64billionta−1 and 224.42tha−1 a−1, respectively. South-east China generally displayed a much higher capacity than the north-west, and ecosystems with a capacity of >1000tha−1 a−1 were primarily located in mountain areas, including the Tsinling, Nanling, and Wuyi Mountains. Through comparisons, ecosystems located in the provinces of Fujian, Guangxi, Zhejiang, those in the basins of south-eastern rivers, the Pearl River, and the Yangtze River, and those at elevations of 200–1000m all performed much better than others, from the erosion control perspective. As for the impacts, the spatial characteristics of soil conservation service in China were primarily controlled by climate and terrain at the national scale. In addition, population growth might not affect the soil conservation service directly, whereas land reclamation could impair this service and subsequently exacerbate soil erosion. Finally, the results of this study could contribute to soil erosion control and ecosystem protection in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The anthropocene is the age where human influences are determining the development of the planet's ecosystems and thus the bio-physical basis of future human civilisations. Today China has become the world's largest economy and its worst polluter with per capita greenhouse gas emissions surpassing the EU average, the world's largest consumer of all kinds of resources. Even regarding the aggregate contribution to climate change (historical emission residues included), called the climate debt, China has not yet, but will be most probably climbing the top position rather soon. At the same time China is the world's largest victim of environmental change, including air and soil pollution, water and land scarcity, biodiversity loss and climate change. Thus not only slowing down the increase but reducing emissions should be a top priority for China, and it is: the government has taken some bold steps. China is the world's largest investor in renewable energies, has the largest afforestation program, and leads the world in reducing carbon dioxide emission reduction. As the largest polluter it has extraordinary opportunities to improve the global state of the environment - is it the world's last best hope for establishing a global ecological civilisation? Some implications regarding the Chinese environmental policy are discussed, some strengths highlighted and some weaknesses identified. However, despite their magnitude, the efforts-and in particular their implementation-are not yet sufficient. We suggest three additional steps which could help China to begin reducing its climate debt within a couple of decades, define a long term perspective for policy planning and adjust its growth model to the challenges of the anthropocene. [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]

China's reform/opening process has been exceptionally successful at generating lasting economic growth and in lifting millions of people out of absolute poverty. However, this success came at a significant price. Environmental degeneration represents one critical issue. Other serious topics include an increasing income and development gap between and within provinces, and between rural and urban areas. A proposed shift towards a low-carbon economy seems to provide an answer in addressing this complex environmental–development challenge. However, decisions on a future course of action are not made in a political, economic or social vacuum, instead decisions are made in the context of a particular structural environment, which restricts the options available for actors. Applying a structure–agency approach will help to identify and highlight the existing structural challenges inherent within China's development strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Highlights: [•] With economic growth slowing and environmental degradation unchecked, China’s leaders face critical policy problems. [•] Domestic stressors – ecosystem degradation; food; energy; water; urbanization and climate change – are driving changes. [•] Measured against adaptive capacity standards, the government is weak at solving complex, cross-cutting problems. [•] Along with environmental reforms, China must address issues of fundamental governance and institutional capacity. [•] China can make progress by placing environmental and social concerns on par with economic growth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In recent years, heavy metal pollution accidents were reported frequently in China. The atmospheric heavy metal pollution is drawing all aspects of attention. This paper summarizes the recent research results from our studies and previous studies in recent years in China. The level, temporal variation, seasonal variation and size distribution of the heavy metals of atmospheric Lead(Pb), Vanadium(V), Manganese(Mn), Nickel(Ni), Chromium(Cr), Cadmium(Cd), Copper(Cu), Zinc(Zn) and Arsenic(As) were characterized in China. The emission characteristics and sources of atmospheric heavy metals and As in China were reviewed. Coal burning, iron and steel industry and vehicle emission are important sources in China. Control policies and effects in China were reviewed including emission standards, ambient air quality standards, phase out of leaded gasoline and so on, and further works for atmospheric heavy metals control were suggested. The comprehensive heavy metals pollution control measures and suggestions were put forward based on the summarization of the development and experience of the atmospheric heavy metal pollution control abroad. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper addresses the issue of whether – in line with the Chinese economic approximation to Latin America during the last decade – the region has experienced political changes in terms of countries' foreign policies, shifting their traditional alignment with the positions of the regional hegemon, the United States. Given this general focus, the research project focuses on evaluating a specific issue of global governance: climate change policy. Here I find a marked difference between the Chinese and the US position, constituting two opposing poles between which Latin American countries must operate. I consider the cases of two countries, Brazil and Chile, in terms of their discursive location between China and the United States on global climate change policy. I was able to identify discursive changes throughout the decade that suggest a political alignment of the two Latin American countries with China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing interest in China's response to climate change, few studies address what is happening at the sub-national level. Hong Kong has implemented several mitigation and adaptation climate-related initiatives. An analytical framework combining multi-level governance with the concepts of institutionalisation and legitimisation is applied to Hong Kong's climate initiatives. Hong Kong's ability to devise a climate change strategy that is institutionalised and legitimated is found to be constrained by a range of climate policy-specific and broader socio-economic and political factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, erratic global climate conditions have generated an incessant series of natural disasters in China. This article seeks to explore China's climate change policies. This article addresses the impacts of climate change on China's environment and China's perception, principle, objective and policy actions in response to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nowadays, one of the urgent issues regarding global climate change is to discuss the future of the second period of the Kyoto Protocol. However, the divergence of views and opinions among parties in the last Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Durban in December 2011, is still large. One of the bones of contention is whether the emerging developing countries, like China, should make commitments and legally bind themselves to a Green House Gas (GHG) reduction target in near future. As the largest GHG emitting country, China and its energy and climate policies will play an important role in global climate change and will also significantly influence the other countries’ policies and the global climate negotiation. In this paper, we review the current differences among parties in the Durban Conference, and we analyze the recent situation, barriers, and future policies in China. Finally we highlight the impact and potential effect of Clean Development Mechanisms in avoiding China''s barriers regarding climate change. Results show that China is making a great effort to mitigate climate change by establishing and reforming its energy and climate policies in order to achieve a low-carbon development. At the same time, more innovation and international collaboration is needed in China to achieve this goal. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Uncertainty over climate change prospects has become a key area of the government's environmental policy in China. China has proclaimed a principle of "common but differentiated responsibility," suggesting that developed countries are to accept a greater share of the blame for the unfavorable climate change. At the conferences on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009 and 2010, China succeeded, in general, in making its position stronger. [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]

The issues faced by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in formulating its climate policy do not come from a denial of the reality of climate change, nor form a reluctance to introduce new policies and regulations at the domestic level. They stem rather from general difficulties relating to the effective implementation of regulations in the Chinese political system, and primarily from the incompatibility of different objectives, in particular the achievement of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions with the technology available and the growth of the Chinese economy, both in intensity and in content. One of the interesting paradoxes of this situation concerns the centrality of China's growth model for the global economy, meaning that this country's domestic regulation has potentially far-reaching implications for the major economies worldwide. Without further significant changes in the structure of the political economy of developed countries, China will neither want, nor be able, to bring about any rapid change in its development path. To explain this situation, this paper reviews the drivers of policy developments addressing climate change in the PRC before describing the policy instruments selected by China in the formulation of its climate change policy. The paper also considers the position of the PRC in international climate change negotiations. Finally, it examines the implementation of these policies and assesses their capacity to effectuate a low carbon transition in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has recently become the world's largest emitter of carbon and is already facing many harmful effects domestically from climate change. Chinese leaders have therefore made a high-level commitment to curb emissions, as evident in the 2007 National Climate Change Program. However, the government has missed many of its targets, in particular its goal of reducing energy intensity. This essay argues that China is missing its targets because of a number of factors which stem from the fragmented nature of China's authoritarian system. First, environmental policies are too broad and complicated, making it difficult for regulators to enforce the laws. Second, the current incentive structures of promotion and salary cause local officials to give higher priority to economic development than to environmental issues. Third, environmental regulators, such as the judiciary and environmental agencies, remain weak and impeded by enforcement obstacles. While positive changes have occurred, such as the emergence of NGOs and the media as environmental watchdogs and a burgeoning clean technology sector, much remains to be done to improve the long-term viability of climate change policies in China. Based on the preceding analysis, this essay recommends ways by which the government could improve the process of enacting and implementing climate change policies. It also urges the international community to sympathize with the Chinese government and, by leading the way, help the government gain greater compliance with climate change policies. [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]

Building on structuralist perspectives of the world economy, a small but growing group of researchers have forged a new literature on 'ecologically unequal exchange' and documented that energy and materials disproportionately flow from the Global South to the Global North. These findings have begun to influence efforts to negotiate a 'post-Kyoto' global climate regime. Since the extraction of resources and energy is one of the most damaging stages of the chain of commodity production, a logical next step is the mounting cry from developing countries that they are owed an 'ecological debt' by the North. The G-77 and China have seized on these ideas and a movement for 'climate justice' is now gaining strength in and exerting influence in international negotiations, including the UNFCCC meetings in Delhi, Bali, and Pozna'. This article reviews the history of these related three ideas and examines their potential to reshape the discussion of 'burden sharing' in the post-Kyoto world where development is constrained by climate change. [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.

This article investigates how transnational NGO cooperation can influence the official Chinese stance on climate change politics. Drawing on the constructivist approach to international relations, the so-called 'spiral model', developed by Risse et al (1999) for the human rights field, is applied to environmental politics for the first time. The model is tested by process tracing the historical development of the Chinese position on climate change and by analysing the roles and impacts of different actors in different phases of norm internalization. The model is complemented by an in-depth analysis of present transnational NGO campaigns in China. Although results show that international and Chinese NGOs have an influence on Chinese climate politics, the model's assumption about the causes for a norm internalization could only partly be confirmed: instead of the pressurizing strategies of the transnational advocacy network, instruments of sharing information seem to be more effective in changing Chinese climate politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]