In the long term, China may face serious conflicts between energy supply and demand. A large and growing population, rapid industrialization, urbanization, and the significant increase in individual consumption may well result in ecological degradation and water shortages. We need to take a hard look at urbanization in particular, as burgeoning cities are very much reliant on natural and human resources that originate outside their gates. Big cities also have wider impacts on the surrounding rural ecosystems than just using them as a storehouse.
China isn't alone; the company it keeps on Asian coastal regions also have major cities posed to suffer disproportionately from the negative effects of climate change and the consequent rise in natural disasters. East Asia is home to four of the world’s ten most vulnerable and exposed population concentrations. The high risk these cities run calls for at least one way to batten down the hatches: implementing a climate-sensitive risk reduction plan as part of low-carbon urban development strategies.
UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) created a series of plans directed towards the economy, society, and environment. China's visions are similar to the UN's, and progress towards achievement of its MDGs has been strongly motivated, with poverty cut in half since 1990. China is well positioned to reach many of the remaining MDG targets by 2015. Goals for Ensuring Environmental Sustainability indicate safe drinking water and improved sanitation are within reach, however their goal to reverse losses of environmental resources will not be achieved as quickly.
Climate change is another global crisis that has been slow to get attention and is now gaining speed. Climate variability and future change are not abstractions, and they will rain on the just and unjust alike. However, the poor populations of developing countries are far more exposed to the violent realities. Climate change may hamper the process of eradicating poverty and achievement of MDGs, since these phenomena much more directly impact the livelihoods and the assets of the poor. The cumulative effects of global warming activities – largely stimulated by human, not natural, activity – demand an urgent, concerted response.
Government bodies responsible for environmental and natural resources management have made climate change response the top priority of the Chinese national agenda. China has been keeping two plates in the air: sustainable development and economic growth. These operations include national development planning, environmental legislation, and the systematic strengthening of environmental institutions. China has committed to carbon dioxide reduction (on the basis of 2005 levels) by 40-45 percent per unit GDP by 2020. A top-down policy on “Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction” has become a key criterion in appraising local officials’ performance. A low-carbon approach to economic development is being promoted and has become a new economic engine, pushing legislation, policy, technology, afforestation and public awareness.
UNEP-China Partnership
UNEP, the international organization driving policy in environment and climate change, science and technology, provides technical assistance with mainstreaming environmental issues into national strategies by establishing strong strategic partnership with national, central, and local governments. In China their link is with the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). On the country level, it is implemented through MDG mechanisms and the UN Development Assistant Framework (UNDAF). Other strategic partners include UN-system agencies, bilateral agencies, international NGOs, as well as the business and private sector, think tanks, academia, media, and national NGOs. The UNEP leverages the comparative strength of all the partners to increase public interest and direct a country towards sustainable development.
China’s goal of becoming a conservationist and environment-friendly society is in line with UNEP’s priorities to support country-level implementation. UNEP has supported environmental assessments and initiatives relevant to the countries and regions, such as the Global Environment Outlook (GEO), Green Economy Initiative (GEI), and environmental emergency response and disaster management. UNEP could provide a platform for multilateral and cross-border programs.
UNEP launched the Green Economy Initiative (GEI) in 2008 with the aim of assisting governments and other stakeholders to reshape and refocus policies, investments, and public awareness campaigns. This is done by moving traditional sectors towards low-carbon and encouraging the development of environment-friendly sectors such as clean technologies, renewable energies, and approaches that will sustain and preserve natural assets. These methods go hand-in-hand with sustaining economic development and generating more jobs. UNEP-led Green Economy has been well received by the Chinese government. Low-carbon and green economy means and ends are integrated with the national strategy, and pilot sites and sectors are being thoroughly studied.
In the aftermath of Copenhagen, more countries are adapting green growth strategies, but it has become apparent that no country can achieve this alone. A global endeavor realized through strong partnerships will increase investment in green technologies. Governments, including China’s, can take the initiative in R&D, and team up with the private sectors that help “make it so.”
As carbon emission from construction amounts to about one-third of total carbon emission, UNEP established the Sustainable Building and Climate Initiative (SBCI) to improve energy efficiency, incorporating different stakeholders within the sector, including those responsible for building policies and codes. Two enterprises from China are SBCI members, and it is demonstrably ground where considerable global gains can be made, as China’s volume of construction leads the world.
In 2008, the UN launched UN-China Climate Change Partnership Framework (CCPF). Funded out of UN MDG coffers, its building projects are based on climate change policy, mitigation, and adaptation. UNEP collaborates with its national partner, the National Development and Reform Commission of China, to research the impact of, and adaptation strategies for, glacier melt in the Himalaya region and rising sea levels. Climate change science and recommended adaptations will be integrated into national and provincial planning. It should be understood that the adaptations will provide benefits immediately and well into the future, whether or not projected climate changes become reality. This is called the “No Regret” principle.
The value of natural systems in combating climate change through their role in mitigation and adaptation is extremely promising. UNEP has determined and implemented Global Environmental Fund programs in China that range across protected area management, dry land management, river basin management, energy conservation and efficiency, and renewable energy.
Innovation and Leadership
At this moment in our history the rules have changed, and creative thinking is required. For China and the rest of Asia, this presents an opportunity to assert greater leadership on the world stage, whether in terms of emissions targets, technology, or regional cooperation. The future belongs to those nations who grasp the problem and seize the moment to build a green future.
We need great leadership to make the transition to a new paradigm. We will see a shift in emphasis from central to local government, from commerce to civil society. An action plan is necessary but basic and applied science is what will drive the development of an innovative green economy. Environmental monitoring, assessment systems, platforms and community networks are needed throughout the region. UNEP is there to support such activities.
Public awareness of green lifestyle benefits should be linked with civic-mindedness and institutional commitment to innovation. From a policy point of view, this requires educational or information campaigns on economic growth modes, coupled with appropriate incentives and disincentives for public decision-making. Many cities in China have started investing in innovative environmental policies, including the use of renewable sources of energy. Comprehensive innovations such as the “circular economy” and low-carbon society models introduced by China will light the path towards sustainable urbanization.
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