Three points, I believe, are very important to objectively
evaluate the climate policies of developing countries.
The first is whether they regard an effective response to
climate change as one of their priority policy objectives, the
second is whether they have taken specific measures to meet the
challenges brought by climate change; and the third is whether they
are actively participating in international cooperation with regard
to climate change and seriously implementing their obligations.
I will highlight the first two points.
First, the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of
China last month explicitly proposed that the construction of a
conservation culture be one of the most important strategic
objectives of an all-round well-off society.
Second, China's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) stipulates that
quantitative energy saving and pollutant discharge indicators be
mandated to evaluate economic and social development. The Chinese
government has committed itself to reducing energy consumption per
unit GDP by 20 percent and pollutant discharges by 10 percent
during this period. This constitutes a great challenge for the
government in the next few years.
Third, legislation and regulations for effective response to
climate change have been sped up. This year, the Chinese government
issued a national climate program that specifies concrete
objectives, policies, strategies and action plans.
And fourth, mechanisms to deal with climate change have also
been established. For instance, a coordinating group with Premier
Wen Jiabao as the head has been set up to coordinate efforts of the
whole country in response to climate change.
China is a large developing country undergoing profound economic
transition. In order to resolve the conflict between rapid economic
growth and its energy-resource-environmental constraints, China is
making great efforts in two respects.
The first is to change its economic development model and
reconfigure its industrial structure, production mode and
consumption model that can help save energy and resources and are
environment-friendly.
The second is to include environment cost as one of the most
important factors that make up the prices for energy and resources
to reflect real supply-demand, and the scarcity of energy and
resources. A few examples will help us see these efforts
clearly.
About 720,000 enterprises in China were strictly examined for
their discharge of pollutants in 2006 and 3,176 were closed because
of their over-discharge.
The third, between 2006 and 2010, the levy on carbon dioxide
emissions will be doubled from 0.63 yuan to 1.26 yuan per unit.
Climate change is not only an environmental issue, but also a
development issue. The general trend of China's climate policy
shows that the country is seriously responding to climate change to
realize its dual purpose of economic development and environment
protection, and to make new contributions to the climate change
battle.
The author is executive president of the
Hainan-based China Institute for Reform and Development
(CIRD).
(China Daily November 28, 2007)
