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Expert Blog

Deborah Seligsohn and other experts react to the latest headlines about China climate and energy issues.

Foreign Wind Companies Create Good U.S. Jobs
Lutz Weischer
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 15:41

There has been a lot of concern in the media (see Green Inc. and Washington Post articles) and in the U.S. Senate recently about stimulus grants for wind energy projects going to China and other foreign countries. On March 3rd, a group of Senators called for the suspension of the renewables grant program until rules had been passed that made sure projects used American components and labor. But there is more to that story than meets the eye.

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China and India Now Associated with the Copenhagen Accord
Deborah Seligsohn
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 14:18

China reported its commitment to a 40-45% reduction in carbon intensity by 2020, based on a 2005 baseline, by the Copenhagen Accord’s January 31 deadline. But there was still some ambiguity about China’s actual relationship to the Copenhagen Accord itself. Now China and India, as well, have written the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat.

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Q and A on China's Carbon Intensity Target with Zou Ji, WRI's China Director
Zou Ji
Friday, March 5, 2010 - 16:18

China recently confirmed an ambitious goal to reduce its economy’s carbon intensity by 40-45% from 2005 levels by 2020. WRI’s China Director Zou Ji, a former Chinese climate negotiator, discusses the significance of this step by the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, and what it means for China’s relations with the United States and the world.

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Solar Hops: US-China Cooperation; Provinces Get Going; Suntech Shining Strong
Julian Wong
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 14:10
Its been a while since we've had an extensive discussion of China's solar market. Here, we catch up with some of the major the developments in this space over the past half year or so -- A new US-China dynamic highlighted by two-large scale projects, policy action by provincial-level governments, and lots of activity by Chinese solar poster child Suntech, and more!
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What Does China Think About Climate Change and Copenhagen?
Deborah Seligsohn
Monday, February 22, 2010 - 14:56
China’s Climate Change Minister Xie Zhenhua gave a speech January 9 at Beijing University’s Guanghua School of Management’s annual New Year’s Symposium (see the original Chinese text on the Sina website, but to assist our non-Chinese speaking readership we also provide our own informal translation in the ChinaFAQs library).
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China Collects Pollution Data from Almost 6 Million Sources
Deborah Seligsohn
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - 09:48

China just released its first ever pollution census – a national survey that collected data from almost six million separate sources , to which China devoted a reported $100 million and 570,000 staff in the collection effort. In late 2006, China’s State Council made the decision to conduct the survey. The Ministry then spent a year preparing, and the actual data collection took place in 2008. The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) has issued aggregated data from the study. There have been numerous press reports in both English and Chinese, but intrepid readers can also find what is essentially the Executive Summary of the report on the web in Chinese*, and there is also a speech by the leader of the study describing more of the process and background.

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New Resources for China Climate and Energy Information
Deborah Seligsohn
Monday, February 8, 2010 - 10:16

For those tracking China climate and energy information, you might want to take a look at these blog entries. Blogger Vance Wagner has just updated his organizational chart for the Chinese government to try to capture the new National Energy Commission under the State Council. This chart is still a work in progress, and Vance says he welcomes comments on how to improve it, but it is extremely useful for seeing who is connected to whom in the Chinese government.

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China Records Its Climate Actions By Copenhagen Accord Deadline
Barbara Finamore
Thursday, February 4, 2010 - 11:57

China’s Commitment

China has submitted its proposed climate mitigation actions to the UNFCCC in a letter dated January 28, ahead of the January 31, 2010 deadline in the Copenhagen Accord. Given Premier Wen Jiabao’s hands-on role, along with President Obama and the leaders of India, Brazil and South Africa, in creating the Accord last month, it is encouraging to see China demonstrate its commitment to moving global climate negotiations forward.

In its letter, China reaffirmed its earlier announcement of policies to: (1) reduce its carbon intensity by 40-45% by 2020 from 2005 levels, (2) increase the share of non-fossil energy in its primary energy consumption to around 15% by 2020, and (3) increase forest coverage by 40 million hectares and forest stock volume by 1.3 billion cubic meters by 2020 from 2005 levels. China noted that these actions will be implemented in accordance with the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC.

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New York Times: "China Leading Global Race to Make Clean Energy"
Nick Price
Monday, February 1, 2010 - 14:10

From Keith Bradsher, New York Times:

“TIANJIN, China — China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, and is poised to expand even further this year.

China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. And the country is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants.

These efforts to dominate renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may someday trade its dependence on oil from the Mideast for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China.”

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Following the Copenhangen Accord: China Submits Carbon Intensity Target to UNFCCC Secretariat
Deborah Seligsohn
Monday, February 1, 2010 - 11:30

As provided for in last month’s Copenhagen Accord, China has now submitted its “mitigation actions” (click HERE to see the text of the letter in our ChinaFAQs Library). While there was much speculation as to which actions China would submit, in the end China has reported the full set of measures first announced by President Hu Jintao at the United Nations in November 2009, and then amplified by the State Council decision on the 40-45% carbon intensity target at the end of November.

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