Facilitating greener growth

Progress has been made on raising environmental awareness of decision-makers but there are still challenges ahead

China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) seeks to promote "inclusive growth," which means ensuring the benefits of economic growth are distributed to a greater proportion of Chinese citizens. The plan's key themes are rebalancing the economy, reducing social inequality and protecting the environment.

The government has introduced a series of measures aimed at getting its pollution problem under control. A target has been set to reduce the number of carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 17 percent. The government also set a target for reducing emissions intensity in key industries by 30 percent by the end of 2017, and it is committed to producing 16 percent of its primary energy from renewable sources by 2020.

 

Heavy smog shrouds Harbin, Heilongjiang province, on Monday, as schools were closed and some buses stopped operating because of poor visibility on the roads. Photo by Xiao Gang / For China Daily

China has begun to draft a climate change law and may complete it in two years. If this law is passed, Chinese emissions standards will be applied across sectors such as power generation, iron and steel, construction, and oil and gas sectors.

The authorities have also several sustainable urban development initiatives. At the end of January 2013, the first batch of 90 pilot smart cities, including 37 prefecture-level cities, 50 districts (and counties) and three townships, were selected. Traffic management represents one of the key objectives in most of these projects.

China asked seven cities and provinces in 2012 to set regional caps and pilot programs for trading emissions. It set targets to cut carbon intensity and energy consumption by 2015 for each city and province. The total amounts of carbon emissions can be estimated with planned economic growth. Quotas for carbon emissions will then be set and allocated to key enterprises. Shenzhen was the first to begin emissions trading, and Shanghai will probably follow this year.