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China Hosts Its First UN Climate Conference

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For six days, from October 4 to October 9, 2010, China hosted its first international climate conference in Tianjin, a city of 10.5 million 90 miles southeast of Beijing. Though negotiators expressed dismay at the slow pace of the talks, most agreed by the conference's end that some progress had been achieved, though it was slim. On the last day of the meeting, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Christiana Figueres insisted that Tianjin had been successful. "This week has gotten us closer to a structured set of decisions that can be agreed at Cancun,” she said, while noting that countries actually had addressed together what is doable in Cancun, and what needs to be left until after Cancun. The Tianjin meeting was the last official negotiating session before the UNFCCC ministerial meeting in Cancun, which started on November 29, 2010. See USCAN 2010 International Climate Calendar.

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Daily Highlights

China Briefings

 

China, The Clean Energy Race And The UN Climate Change Meeting

Monday, September 27th, 2010

The status of China’s growing clean energy economy and reduction of global warming emissions, U.S. competitiveness in the clean energy sector and implications for the October UN climate change meeting in Tianjin, China.

This briefing will highlight the actions that China is taking towards growing the clean energy sector and reducing their global warming pollution. Experts will discuss the issues surrounding the clean energy race where China has begun to take the lead and what U.S. action is needed to remain competitive in this growing economy. October 4-­‐10 marks the first ever UN Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in China and the briefing will also include how China is dealing with their Copenhagen Accord commitments, including their commitment to Measure, Report and Verify (MRV) their emissions.

Presenters include:

Jake Schmidt, International Climate Policy Director, Natural Resources Defense Council

Lily Donge, Manager-­‐ Environment and Climate Change, Calvert Asset Management Co.

Yvette Pena Lopes, Director of Legislation & Intergovernmental Affairs, BlueGreen Alliance

 

Sponsored by:

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Materials For Briefing:

Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming Briefing

September 20, 2010 – With international tensions over clean energy trade and competition increasing, there has never been a more pivotal time to assess America’s place in the global clean energy race. Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing to examine the form and scale of investments in the clean energy sector, where these investments are occurring around the world, what is driving them, the broader economic and employment implications of these investments, and the challenges to growing an American clean energy sector. Click here to go to the official briefing page.

Brookings U.S.-China Clean Energy Cooperation Briefing

Cooperation between the United States and China on clean energy has continued to move forward despite other tensions in the relationship. Seven programs on clean energy that were announced by Presidents Obama and Hu during their 2009 Beijing summit have resulted in significant opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in many aspects of clean energy, including research, technology, manufacturing, regulatory policy and low carbon-development strategies. Click here to go to the official briefing page.

Leading US-China Experts Discuss Tianjin and US-China Climate and Energy Issues.

The international climate meetings in Tianjin on October 4-9 will be a key moment for US-China relations on climate and energy. Today ChinaFAQs experts held a press call to discuss how the countries are cooperating on climate and energy issues, and the risks and benefits involved.“The first thing to note is the political significance of China hosting an important UN climate change negotiating session. It shows the importance China puts on the issue of climate change, but also its commitment to the United Nations,” said Jennifer Morgan, Director of WRI’s Climate and Energy Program.Click here to go to the official briefing page.

Fact Sheets

Green China, Race to the Future Facts Sheets
  • Climate Change Impacts on China
    • In the past 50 years, China’s mean temperature rose by 1.1 degrees Celsius, fastest globally. There is evidence for an increase in frequency of hydrological extreme events, such as drought in North and flood in South. China’s agriculture, water resources, natural ecosystem, coastal regions and public health are all going through impacts from climate change.

  • China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change

    • In 2007, headed by Premier Wen Jiabao, the National Leading Group to Address Climate Change was established to take charge of formulating major strategies, guidelines, and measures for addressing climate change and for coordinating the solution of major relevant problems. China has announced its intention to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent compared with the level of 2005. It has also finished its 2nd National Assessment Report on Climate Change and has launched its national programme to adapt to climate change through capacity building in vulnerable regions and in disaster alert systems.

  • A Climate Action Summary by NGOs in China
    China is the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and it is also one of the most vulnerable countries in the face of climate change threats. Chinese NGOs are working in China, as well as at international climate negotiation meetings, to raise public awareness on the issue and to push for a “Green China,” thereby enabling China to “race to the future”.

  • A Climate Action Summary by Enterprises in China

    The Chinese government and enterprise, as well as other walks of life, have realized that China cannot miss another wave of new industry revolution. Going low-carbon is a global trend. Chinese enterprises are no longer happy to be the followers. They are determined to become the leaders in the new economic race to the future.

  • Low Carbon Regional Development in China

    • Prior to the COP-15 Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen last year, China expressed its intention to reduce carbon intensity by 40-45% by 2020. In support of this, China has included measures to support the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency into its 12th national five year plan. However, while the targets set by the national government are promising, a major challenge in realizing these targets will be their implementation at the provincial and city level.

Clean Energy Investments

  • Improving China’s Existing Renewable Energy Legal Framework: Lessons from the International and Domestic Experience
    Expanding the share of renewable energy in its energy mix is one of the key pillars of China‘s low-carbon development strategy. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009, China pledged to reduce its carbon intensity—the amount of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) emitted per unit of gross domestic product (GDP)—by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 based on 2005 levels, and to raise the share of non-fossil sources of energy (i.e., renewables and nuclear) to 15 percent of its primary energy consumption by 2020, from about 9.9 percent as of the end of 2009.

  • A Primer on the (Strong) Smart Grid and its Potential for Reducing GHG Emissions in China and the United States
    In both China and the United States, the power sector is a dominant source of fossil-fuel combustion and greenhouse gas emissions.1 Decarbonizing the power sector by both reducing the use of fossil fuels (particularly coal) and using them more efficiently, as well as integrating greater amounts of renewable, low-carbon energy sources like wind and solar, is an essential measure for reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

  • Renewable Energy Development Trends in China
    Joanna Lewis, Georgetown University, Slide Presentation presented at the NRDC Side Event in Tianjin on October 6, 2010

  • From Crisis to Opportunity: How China is Addressing Climate Change and Positioning Itself to be a Leader in Clean Energy

    China and the United States are the world’s largest emitters of global warming pollution. As both nations face ever-growing energy service needs and an increasing dependence on foreign oil, their joint leadership is crucial to addressing global climate change and moving the world to a clean energy economy

    • Advancing Towards Cleaner Coal

  • ChinaFAQs: Taking Steps to Capture Carbon

    China is beginning to look underground for a solution to its climate challenge. As part of a larger effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions, Chinese researchers are studying ways to capture CO2 before it leaves the smokestack and pump it underground

    • Transportation

  • ChinaFAQs: China's Transportation Revolution

    The bike is giving way to the bus, the train and the car in China. By 2025, the rapidly urbanizing nation – once known for its throngs of pedalers -- will need up to 3 million new buses and 19,000 miles of new subway and rail tracks to carry city commuters to work, and could have some 250 million cars on its roadways.i Such eye-opening numbers are just part of a transportation revolution that is remaking how goods and people move in China – and will have a big role in determining its future oil use and greenhouse gas emissions.

    • Efficiency

  • ChinaFAQs: An Intense Push for Energy Efficiency

    Although a dominant image of China’s economic boom has been billowing smokestacks from burning coal, its efforts to increase energy efficiency are noteworthy. China is on track to meet a goal of reducing national energy intensity by 20% by 2010. This target, set in 2005, is the cornerstone of a set of policies to cut energy and emissions growth.

  • ChinaFAQs: Efficiency, a Thousand Companies at a Time

    China’s policymakers understand that continuing development will require using less energy to produce more economic growth – and are betting on the nation’s largest 1,000 businesses to make it happen.

  • ChinaFAQs: China’s Ten Key Energy Efficiency Projects

    It’s a “top ten” list you’ve probably never heard of. But China’s “Ten Key Projects” initiative may revolutionize the way that nation produces and uses energy. The billion dollar effort, launched in 2004 and incorporated into the China’s latest economic development plan, provides financial incentives for local governments and industry to pursue a wide range of energy-saving projects. The goal is to conserve the equivalent of some 250 million metric tons of coal equivalent (Mtce), preventing emissions of over 600 million tons of CO2.

    • Measurement and Implementation

  • Putting it into Perspective: China’s Carbon Intensity Target
    As the world‘s largest emitter of heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHGs), China has a crucial role to play in the global fight against climate change. In December 2009, as a participant in the Copenhagen Accord, China pledged to carry out a domestically binding target to reduce its economy‘s carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels.

  • NRDC Fact Sheet: Cutting Through the Fog with China’s First Pollution Information Transparency Index (PITI)

    Developing a coordinated international effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions requires, among other things, that countries have confidence in each others’ capacity to monitor and mitigate their GHG emissions. Reliable emissions data in turn relies on the existence of governance systems that make energy and environmental information transparent and publicly available. In May 2008, the Chinese government took a critical step toward furthering environmental transparency by adopting a pair of sweeping pollution disclosure measures that for the first time required government bodies at all levels to make certain pollution information publicly available. The Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) and the Natural Resources Defense Council developed a Pollution Information Transparency Index (PITI) to carry out a systematic assessment of the first year of implementation for these regulations.

  • ChinaFAQs: China's Measurement & Compliance Initiatives

    In China, officials are ramping up efforts to ensure that they have the accurate numbers they need to implement effective climate and energy policies – and earn international credibility. It’s a road they’ve traveled before, as China is already a member of a global pact to regulate ozone-depleting chemicals (Montreal Protocol) and, more recently, the body that mediates trade disputes (World Trade Organization). Both have extensive data reporting requirements.

  • ChinaFAQs: Energy & Emissions Data in China

    In 2007, when China surpassed the United States as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the development caught some officials in both nations by surprise. In part, that’s because even well-informed experts had predicted the change wouldn’t occur until 2013 or later.i The miscalculation highlighted the importance of up-to-date information in global emissions forecasts – and the challenge of collecting comprehensive statistics in rapidly developing nations like China.

    • Reports & Other Key Resources

    Clean Energy Investments

  • REPORT: Who’s Winning the Clean Energy Race? Growth, Competition and Opportunity in the World’s Largest Economies

    Pew examines key financial, investment and technological trends related to G-20 members and the clean energy economy. The report tracks and measures global investment activity – ranging from venture capital, initial public offerings from companies seeking to expand, mergers and acquisitions and lending for large-scale projects – in this sector. Pew found that the global clean energy economy has experienced remarkable growth.

  • REPORT: Out of the Running?

    How Germany, Spain, and China Are Seizing the Energy Opportunity and Why the United States Risks Getting Left Behind

    China, Germany, and Spain are early winners in the next great technological and industrial revolution. The United States, which has yet to fully embrace a truly sustainable growth strategy for the low-carbon future, is not.

  • REPORT: A Costly Climate of Inaction - 1.9 Million Jobs Lost Due to the U.S. Senate’s Failure to Advance Clean Energy/Climate Legislation

    “While other nations are poised to be at the front of the pack in the global clean energy race, the U.S. Senate’s failure to act in July on clean energy and climate legislation leaves the United States way back at the starting line. The consequences of “sitting out” the clean energy race would be devastating for small and large U.S. businesses.”

    • Advancing Towards Cleaner Coal

  • Resources on Coal: China FAQ's

    China generates 80% of its electricity from coal, the least “climate friendly” fossil fuel. Solving the issue of coal-fired power will be central to reducing China’s emissions growth. What steps is China taking to address the challenge of coal?

  • Identifying Near-Term Opportunities for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in China

    To avoid the worst consequences of global warming, the world must limit average temperature increases to 2°C or less by reducing carbon emissions at least 50 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050. Since the publication of the IPCC’s last synthesis report, several recent studies have further found that the committed warming as of today will exceed 2°C, even if emissions were to stop completely. Achieving the urgently needed emission reductions will require efforts beyond first-resort measures such as energy efficiency, conservation, and enhancement of natural carbon sinks. Given the world’s current heavy reliance on fossil fuels, nations must pursue a wide range of carbon mitigation strategies that includes Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). China is well-positioned to be a global leader in the development and deployment of CCS technologies that—with broad support and engagement from the international community— can be an important tool for reducing carbon emissions as the world transitions to truly clean energy technologies.

  • WRI: Average Coal-Fired Power Plant Fleet Efficiency in China and the U.S.

    Improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon intensity in the power sector have been major goals for the Chinese government. This trend contrasts with the United States, where new coal-fired power plants built in the 1980s and 1990s were actually less efficient than those built in the 1970s. While China is still increasing its overall electricity output at a rapid rate - slightly more than one power plant per week - new power plants both add to capacity and replace less efficient, smaller power plants and direct (and very dirty) coal-burning at industrial sites.

    •  

    Efficiency

  • From Gray to Green - How Energy-Efficient Buildings Can Help Make China's Rapid Urbanization Sustainable

    Improving building energy efficiency by 2015 could cut China’s energy use by 170 billion kWh and reduce CO2 emissions by 170 million tonnes annually. In this report, the authors set out the case for improving building efficiency, including estimated potentials of benefits. They also identify the key stakeholder groups in China and suggest actions for each group.

    •  

    Climate Action Network International ECO Newsletter

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    Quotes

    “The nation that leads in 21st century clean energy is the nation that will lead the 21st century global economy. America can and must be that nation.” President Barack Obama May 16, 2009

    “ [Copenhagen] put China in a position it generally seeks to avoid – as a central, highly visible player on a major global issue. Given China's rapidly growing global importance, it is a position in which Beijing will increasingly find itself.” Kenneth G. Lieberthal, Director, John L. Thornton China Center The Brookings Institution December 23, 2009

    “The country is set to begin domestic carbon trading programs during its 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015) to help it meet its 2020 carbon intensity target. The decision was made at a closed-door meeting chaired by Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and attended by officials from related ministries, enterprises, environmental exchanges and think tanks.” China Daily, July 22, 2010

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announces that a comprehensive Senate Bill would not be brought to the floor. July 22, 2010

     

     

    OneClimate, with support from the GCCA/tcktcktck (http://www.tcktcktck.org), will be streaming live from the venue in China, with interviews featuring climate experts, advocates, CAN members and partners, and others attending the China session. See the live stream below!

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