by Zheng Jinran, China Daily, August 6, 2014
Beijing will ban the consumption of high-polluting fuels in downtown areas by 2020, the municipal environmental protection authority said. The Economic and Technological Development Zone in Yizhuang, Daxing district will be the first area with zero consumption of high-polluting fuels by the end of this year, according to a new plan for the ban on such fuels in the capital.
Working paper of the World Bank. 2013. China – Accelerating household access to clean cooking and heating. East Asia and Pacific clean stove initiative series. Washington DC ; World Bank. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/09/18451502/china-accelerating-household-access-clean-cooking-heating
The China Clean Stove Initiative (CSI), a collaborative effort of the Chinese government and the World Bank, aims to scale up access to clean cooking and heating stoves for poor, primarily rural households, who are likely to continue using solid fuels beyond 2030. More than half of China’s population still relies on solid fuels (coal and biomass) for cooking and heating; many of these households, located mainly in rural areas, are likely to continue using solid fuels in the near future. Switching to modern energy alternatives would be the most effective way to achieve clean cooking and heating solutions and should be encouraged; yet such fuels are more expensive than solid fuels, requiring more costly stoves and delivery infrastructure. Effective strategies to scale up the dissemination of clean burning, fuel-efficient stoves for household cooking and heating can mitigate the health hazards associated with the burning of solid fuels. It is estimated that Household Air Pollution (HAP) from solid fuel use results in more than a million premature deaths each year in China. Scaled-up access to clean and efficient stoves is consistent with China’s strategy to promote energy conservation, reduced carbon emissions, and green energy in villages. The China CSI comprises four phases: 1) initial stocktaking and development of the implementation strategy; 2) institutional strengthening, capacity building, and piloting of the strategy; 3) scaled-up program implementation; and 4) evaluation and dissemination of lessons learned. This report will serve as a knowledge base and roadmap to encourage and engage all interested parties in working together on this important agenda. The initial CSI stocktaking exercise calls for a comprehensive strategy comprising institutional strengthening and building of an enabling policy and regulatory environment, market and business development, and stimulation of household demand, supported by an innovative, results based financing approach.
Official PDF in English, 84 p.
Report also available in Chinese, 72 p.
Arup, Tom. (2013) Where there’s smoke there’s China. The Age World, 8 May (accessed 7 June 2013).
As a former top diplomat in Beijing, and after three decades of professional and personal engagement with the country, Professor Ross Garnaut is no stranger to China.
In January, the respected economist and former Labor climate policy tsar found himself in Beijing again, this time to open a workshop hosted in part by China’s powerful National Development and Reform Commission.
Gathered were a group of international policy wonks, including many Australians and local government officials. They met to discuss options for what some in the public debate deny is happening – the introduction of a national carbon price in China.
In just over a month China will begin a massive experiment in emissions trading when the first of seven regional pilot schemes kicks off (and which one day may develop into a national scheme).
The stakes are high. China emits one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gases. It is easily the world’s largest consumer of coal. In 2011 it released an estimated 9.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide – more than the US and India combined.
In his speech Garnaut painted a cautious, but encouraging, picture of where China stands on climate change.
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