Why is China pursuing a low-carbon energy strategy, what are the benefits and challenges, and what can other nations learn from the Chinese experience?
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Latest from ChinaFAQs
Is China ready for climate change?
Posted by Coco Liu on Apr 29, 2013
Once again, China’s ability to handle a changing climate is being tested.
In 2013, rainfall in south China’s Yunnan province dropped 70 percent below average levels. This, combined with similar rainfall decline over the past three years, has turned the once water-abundant region into a much drier place.
China is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. An extreme weather event like Yunnan’s years-long drought is just one of many problems it faces.
Exploring Prospects for U.S. Coal Exports to China
Posted by Ailun Yang on Apr 17, 2013
The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies. They are also the two largest producers and consumers of coal and the largest emitters of carbon dioxide. In recent years, however, their paths on coal have started to diverge.
Over the last few years, coal consumption has dropped dramatically in the United States, mainly due to low natural gas prices. In response to weak domestic demand, the U.S. coal industry has been rushing to find its way out to the international market. Last year, U.S.
U.S. and China Announce Joint Climate Change Working Group for Strategic and Economic Dialogue
Posted by Luke Schoen on Apr 14, 2013
The U.S. and China pledged to boost cooperation on climate change in a Joint U.S.-China Declaration on Climate Change signed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Saturday April 13 in Beijing.
The Path to Cleaner Air: Can China learn from California?
Posted by Jonathan Moch on Apr 11, 2013
In a visit to China this week, Jerry Brown, the Governor of California, is putting a special emphasis on the promotion of business deals between China and California as part of the solution to China’s pollution problems.
Shenzhen announces start date for emissions trading
Posted by Jonathan Moch on Apr 4, 2013
Shenzhen, a city of 11 million people just north of Hong Kong, has announced that it will begin emission trading on June 17. Shenzhen is one of the seven Chinese cities and provinces that have been developing pilot programs for carbon emissions trading.
China’s New Energy Consumption Control Target
Posted by Ranping Song on Mar 15, 2013
China’s State Council in late January approved an “energy consumption control target” to keep the country’s total energy consumption below the equivalent of 4 billion tonnes of coal per year by 2015.
Why does China want carbon trading?
Posted by Coco Liu on Mar 7, 2013
With the calendar turning to 2013, the long-awaited next phase in a campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will soon take place in China.
Five Chinese cities and two provinces will begin pilot programs to cap the amount of carbon dioxide key polluters can emit with a system of tradable allowances. Polluters that emit beyond the cap are required to buy more carbon allowances; those that become more efficient can sell allowances they no longer need.
Experts In the News
Experts
- Nathaniel Aden , World Resources Institute
- Edward Cunningham , Boston University
- Erica Downs , The Brookings Institution
- Meredydd Evans , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- Barbara Finamore , Natural Resources Defense Council
- Jerry Fletcher , West Virginia University
- Sarah Forbes , World Resources Institute
- David Fridley , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Kelly Sims Gallagher , Tufts University
- Banning Garrett , Atlantic Council
- Stephen Hammer , Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Melanie Hart , Center for American Progress
- Mikkal Herberg , The National Bureau of Asian Research
- Isabel Hilton , Chinadialogue
- Trevor Houser , Peterson Institute for International Economics
- S.T. Hsieh , Tulane University
- Angel Hsu , Yale University
- Daniel Kammen , University of California, Berkeley
- Robert Kapp , Robert A. Kapp and Associates
- Albert Keidel , Atlantic Council
- David Kline , National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Bo Kong , Johns Hopkins University
- Michael Levi , Council on Foreign Relations
- Mark Levine , Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
- Joanna Lewis , Georgetown University
- Kenneth Lieberthal , The Brookings Institution
- Haibing Ma , Worldwatch Institute
- Denise Mauzerall , Princeton University
- Irving Mintzer , Potomac Energy Fund
- Chris Nielsen , Harvard University
- Rose Niu , World Wildlife Fund
- Stephanie Ohshita , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Huei Peng , University of Michigan
- Lynn Price , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- David Pumphrey , Center for Strategic and International Studies
- JingJing Qian , Natural Resources Defense Council
- Rod Quinn , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- Luke Schoen , Tsinghua-Berkeley Inter-University Program
- Deborah Seligsohn , World Resources Institute
- Monisha Shah , National Renewable Energy Laboratory
- Bo Shen , Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Edward Steinfeld , Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Kevin Tu , Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Jennifer Turner , Woodrow Wilson Center
- Alex Wang , UC Berkeley Boalt Law School
- Elizabeth Wilson , University of Minnesota
- Julian Wong , Green Leap Forward
- Ailun Yang , World Resources Institute
- Zhang Xiaoquan , The Nature Conservancy
- Nan Zhou , Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Data Sources
BP Statistical Review of World Energy
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (ORNL)
China Energy Databook (LBNL)
Key China Energy Statistics 2011 (LBNL)
Climate Analysis Indicator Tool (CAIT)
Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR)
Energy Information Administration (EIA)
International Energy Agency (IEA)
The World Bank
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
