Climate policy of China
This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (May 2022) |
The climate policy of China is to peak its greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 and to be carbon neutral before 2060.[1] Due to the buildup of solar power and the burning of coal, Chinese energy policy is closely related to its climate policy.[2] There is also policy to adapt to climate change.[3] Ding Xuexiang represented China at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2023, and may be influential in setting climate policy.[4]
There is a debate surrounding China's economic responsibilities in terms of climate change mitigation and efforts to mitigate climate change within China. In 2006, China surpassed the United States as the country with the highest total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rate.[5]
Actors and institutions
[edit]In 2018, China established the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE).[7]: 95 A number of environmental policy functions were merged from other ministries into the MEE, including MEP functions, climate policy previously under the NDRC, and a number of environmental policy functions previously under the Ministry of Water Resources and the State Oceanic Administration.[7]: 95 Pollutant and carbon emissions trading programs were also placed within the MEE's jurisdiction.[8]: 78 In 2021, Ministry of Ecology and Environment published a White Paper on "Responding to Climate Change: China's Policies and Actions".[9]
Beginning with a joint statement on the Kyoto Protocol in Bali in December 2007, Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in cooperation with international NGOs, assumed a more prominent role in efforts to mitigate climate change within China. NGO activity in China is restricted by government controls.[10]
The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs is attempting to persuade large GHG emitters, such as steelmakers in Hubei, to publish their emission figures.[11]
Greenhouse gas emissions
[edit]China's total greenhouse gas emissions are the world's highest of any country, accounting for 35% of the world's total according to the International Energy Agency. The country's per capita greenhouse gas emissions are the 34th highest of any country, as of 2023.
Greenhouse gas emissions stem mainly from coal burning, including coal power, coal mining,[14] and blast furnaces producing iron and steel.[15] 79% of CO2 emissions are from the burning of coal.[16]
When measuring production-based emissions, China emitted over 12.6 gigatonnes (Gt) CO2eq of greenhouse gases in 2023, 35% of the world total.[17][18][19] When measuring in consumption-based terms, which adds emissions associated with imported goods and extracts those associated with exported goods, China accounted for 13 gigatonnes (Gt) or 25% of global emissions in 2019.[20] According to the Carbon Majors Database, Chinese state coal production alone accounts for 14% of historic global emissions.[21][clarification needed]
As of 2019[update], the country's greenhouse gas emissions exceeded the combined emissions of the developed world.[20][18][22] China's per capita emissions correspond to over 10.1 tonnes CO2eq emitted per person each year, over the world average and the European Union (EU) average but lower than the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States, with its 17.6 tonnes per person, according to a 2021 analysis by the Rhodium Group.[20] Analysis by Our World in Data also puts China's per capita emissions at over the world and EU averages but less than averages in Australia, Canada, and the U.S.[23] Accounting for historic emissions, OECD countries produced four times more CO2 in cumulative emissions than China, due to developed countries' early start in industrialization.[18][20] Overall, China is a net exporter of greenhouse emissions.[24]
The targets laid out in China's nationally determined contribution at the Paris Agreement in 2016 will likely be met, but are not enough to combat global warming.[25] China has committed to peak emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2060.[26] China continues to build coal-fired power stations in 2020 and promised to "phase down" coal use from 2026.[27] According to various analysis, China is estimated to overachieve its renewable energy capacity and emission reduction goals early, but long-term plans are still required to combat the global climate change and meeting the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets.[28][29][30]Its commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions has been a major force in decreasing the global cost of wind and solar power, in turn helping the use of renewable energy to rise globally.[31]: 8
The toll on GDP
[edit]A federal financial auditing project—the 'Green GDP' -- has focused on the economic losses incurred by pollution. The project began in 2004 to incorporate the externalities of previously unaccounted-for environmental costs, but soon produced results that were much worse than anticipated. The program stopped in 2007.[32]
Emissions trading
[edit]The Chinese national carbon trading scheme is an intensity-based trading system for carbon dioxide emissions by China, which started operating in 2021.[33][34] This emission trading scheme (ETS) creates a carbon market where emitters can buy and sell emission credits. The scheme will allow carbon emitters to reduce emissions or purchase emission allowances from other emitters. Through this scheme, China will limit emissions while allowing economic freedom for emitters.
China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) and many major Chinese cities had severe air pollution through the 2010s,[35] with the situation improving in the 2020s.[36] The scheme is run by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment,[33] which eventually plans to limit emissions from six of China's top carbon dioxide emitting industries.[37] In 2021 it started with its power plants, and covers 40% of China's emissions, which is 15% of world emissions.[38] China was able to gain experience in drafting and implementation of an ETS plan from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where China was part of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).[35] China's national ETS is the largest of its kind,[38] and will help China achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement.[35] In July 2021, permits were being handed out for free rather than auctioned, and the market price per tonne of CO2e was around RMB 50, roughly half of the EU ETS and the UK ETS but better compared to the US, which has no formal cap-and-trade program.[38]China also has a policy of forestry carbon credits.[39] Forestry carbon credits are based on the measurement of forest growth, which is converted into carbon emission reduction measurements by government ecological and forestry offices.[39] Owners of forests (who are typically rural families or rural villages) receive carbon tickets (碳票; tan piao) which are tradeable securities.[39]
The large scale of current mitigation
[edit]As of 2008, China's per capita emissions of CO2 were still one-quarter of that of the US.[40] Though China continues to build emissions-intensive coal-fired power plants, its "rate of development of renewable energy is even faster".[41]
There is great interest in solar power in China. The world's market share of China's photovoltaic units manufacturers grew from approximately 1% in 2003 to 18% in 2007,[42] with one of the largest Chinese manufacturers of these devices being the Chinese solar company Suntech.[43] Although the overwhelming majority of the photovoltaic units are exported, plans are under to increase the installed capacity to at least 1,800 MW by 2020.[44] Some officials expect the plans to be significantly over-fulfilled, with the installed capacity reaching possibly as much as 10,000 megawatts by 2020.[44]
Due to the growing demand for photovoltaic electricity, more companies (Aleo Solar, Global Solar, Anwell,[45] CMC Magnetics, etc.) have entered into the photovoltaic market, which is expected to lower the cost of PV cells.
Solar water heating is already used extensively throughout the country.[46]
China also has embarked upon a 9 million acre (36,000 km2) reforestation project—the Green Wall of China—that may become the largest ecological project in history; it is projected to be finished by 2050 at a cost of up to US$8 billion.[47]
Keeping emissions growth at less than GDP growth
[edit]Considering that energy consumption in most developed countries has usually grown faster than GDP during the early stages of industrialization, it is to China's credit that while its GDP has grown by 9.5% per year over the last 27 years, its CO2 emissions have increased by only about 5.4% per year,[41][40] meaning that its carbon intensity (its carbon emissions per unit of GDP) has decreased during that time, though it remains among the highest of any of the developed or developing nations.
Emissions contributed by multinationals in China
[edit]Chinese officials claim that they are doing a great deal that is often not visible, especially for a country as large, populous, and (rurally) undeveloped as it is. But working against that, and equally non-visible, is the role of multinational ventures in China in contributing to its emissions. It has been estimated that as of 2004, almost a quarter (23%) of China's CO2 emissions were coming from Chinese-made products destined for the West, providing an interesting perspective on China's large trade surplus. Another study shown that around 1/3 emissions from China in 2005 are due to exports.[48] Over half of those emissions driven by demand from the West are from transnationals taking advantage of China's developmental policies favouring heavy manufacturing over regions with more developed environmental laws and enforcement. This includes many of the Walmart-suppliers and other foreign-owned factories that stock department store shelves, particularly in the US.[49]
China has buttressed its call for joint international responsibility for at least part of China's emissions, by making public, in Jan 2008, Multinationals committed 130 violations of Chinese environmental law.[50]
International collaboration
[edit]This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024) |
In the early 21st century John Kerry from the US and Xie were very important climate envoys.[51] In 2023 the US made an agreement.[52]
Debates
[edit]Opposition from provincial and local officials
[edit]However, officials in Beijing cite violations by China's own companies as well—in this case, to illustrate the enormity of the task in front of them in getting compliance for environmental regulations which they see as very progressive. Regional and local officials have been taken to task for this.
For example, in 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao issued a warning to local officials to shut down some of the plants in the most energy-intensive industries, designating at least six industries for slow-down. The following year, those same industries posted a 20.6% increase in output.[53] In 2006 as well, the federal government began banning logging in some locations in order to expand its protection of forests, and at the same time restricted the size of cities and golf courses in order to increase land use efficiency. Yet many of the local officials responsible for carrying out the new regulations essentially ignored them.[citation needed]
Another reason for lack of compliance is apparently because local governments now have a chunk of funding for which they are not beholden to the central government, and are motivated to protect those funding sources which pollute, but pollute profitably.[43]
As a result, SEPA's attempt to use local banks as a means of discouraging companies from carbon-intensive practices has followed a troubled path. Many local governments that have officially implemented the 'Green Credit' policy of loaning only to companies with green practices continue also to protect polluting firms that are profitable, and the banks in some provinces have yet to apply the policy at all.[54]
Economic growth
[edit]China's leadership worries that China would end up suffering a slowdown in economic growth that would result in "massive unemployment and social unrest".[55][56] Some economists have estimated that a 2030 deadline for carbon emission reduction could result in a 2% decrease in GDP.[57] To the Chinese[vague], it appears ironic at best that China is being criticized for following the practice of 'pollute first, clean up later' that the Western nations themselves followed during their early stages of capital accumulation.[58]
Global Responsibility and Historical Emissions
[edit]Chinese officials argue that China has been contributing to global warming for only 30 years, while the developed countries have been doing so for 200 years. And since pollution-flagrant early stages of industrialization may have contributed to what China sees as a lack of balance of power, particularly between the US and China,[59] many Chinese officials see global warming mitigation as creating an economic burden that slows its economy and further exacerbates the unequal balance of power.[60]
Chinese officials point out that the highest per capita emissions have long been and still are in the developed countries, not in China.[61] They implied that it is the developed nations who should shoulder a comparable portion of the global cost for reversing the world's emissions, consistent with the polluter pays principle.[62]
China's climate envoy Xie Zhenhua has emphasized China's stance that rich countries have a greater responsibility regarding climate change than China, though China has been the world's largest carbon emitter since 2006.[63] His speech at the 2010 climate conference in South Africa conveyed this Chinese position:[64][65]
We are developing countries. We need to develop and eradicate poverty while protecting the environment. We’ve done what we should do, but you [developed countries] haven’t. What right do you have to lecture us?
History
[edit]The provision by which China signed the Kyoto Protocol without committing to a cap was the same provision given to all developing nation signers.[40]
The Climate Change Special Plan which is part of China's Fourteenth Five-Year Plan emphasizes ecologically oriented urban planning, including through means like urban green rings, public transportation, and bicycle lanes and walking paths.[66]: 114
See also
[edit]- Attribution of recent climate change
- Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition
- Climate change in China
- Dongtan, a Chinese eco-city
- Energy policy of China
- Green growth in China
- List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions
References
[edit]- ^ Prater, Hongqiao Liu, Simon Evans, Zizhu Zhang, Wanyuan Song, Xiaoying You, Joe Goodman, Tom (2023-11-30). "The Carbon Brief Profile: China". Carbon Brief. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Tsang, Lauri Myllyvirta, Byford (2024-01-22). "China Pledged to 'Strictly Control' Coal. The Opposite Happened". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "24: Adaptation". Guide to Chinese Climate Policy. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
- ^ "Do Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang's COP28 talks signal new climate role?". South China Morning Post. 2023-04-20. Retrieved 2024-01-15.
- ^ "China now no. 1 in CO2 emissions; USA in second position". Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. 2010-08-31. Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ a b Friedlingstein et al. 2019, Table 7.
- ^ a b Lewis, Joanna I. (2023). Cooperating for the Climate: Learning from International Partnerships in China's Clean Energy Sector. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-54482-5.
- ^ Ding, Iza (2020). "Pollution Emissions Trading in China". In Esarey, Ashley; Haddad, Mary Alice; Lewis, Joanna I.; Harrell, Stevan (eds.). Greening East Asia: The Rise of the Eco-Developmental State. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-74791-0. JSTOR j.ctv19rs1b2.
- ^ "Full Text: Responding to Climate Change: China's Policies and Actions". Xinhua News (in Latin). 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ Schröder, Miriam; Melanie Müller (2009). "Chinese paths to climate protection". Development and Cooperation. 36 (1). Frankfurt am Main: Societäts-Verlag: 28–30. Archived from the original on 2010-12-18.
- ^ Lushan, Huang (2023-01-04). "From smog to carbon: Chinese NGOs in transition". China Dialogue. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
- ^ ● Source for carbon emissions data: "Territorial (MtCO₂) / Emissions / Carbon emissions / Chart View". Global Carbon Atlas. 2024.
● Source for country population data: "Population 2022" (PDF). World Bank. 2024. Archived from the original on 22 October 2024. - ^ Chart based on: Milman, Oliver (12 July 2022). "Nearly $2tn of damage inflicted on other countries by US emissions". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Guardian cites Callahan, Christopher W.; Mankin, Justin S. (12 July 2022). "National attribution of historical climate damages". Climatic Change. 172 (40): 40. Bibcode:2022ClCh..172...40C. doi:10.1007/s10584-022-03387-y. S2CID 250430339.
- ^ "全球温室气体排放数据(最新版)_中国碳排放交易网". www.tanpaifang.com. Archived from the original on 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
- ^ "Analysis: China's carbon emissions grow at fastest rate for more than a decade". Carbon Brief. 2021-05-20. Archived from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
- ^ "China - Countries & Regions". IEA. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
- ^ "The changing landscape of global emissions – CO2 Emissions in 2023 – Analysis". International Energy Agency. Archived from the original on 2024-08-22. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
- ^ a b c "China's Emissions Now Exceed All the Developed World's Combined". Bloomberg News. 6 May 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-11-01. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
- ^ "CO2 Emissions: China - 2020". Climate TRACE. Archived from the original on 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
- ^ a b c d Larsen, Kate; Pitt, Hannah (6 May 2021). "China's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Exceeded the Developed World for the First Time in 2019". Rhodium Group. Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ Watts, Jonathan (2024-04-03). "Just 57 companies linked to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions since 2016". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-04-04.
Chinese state coal production accounts for 14% of historic global C02, the biggest share by far in the database. This is more than double the proportion of the former Soviet Union, which is in second place, and more than three times higher than that of Saudi Aramco, which is in third.
- ^ "Report: China emissions exceed all developed nations combined". BBC News. 2021-05-07. Archived from the original on 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
- ^ Ritchie, Hannah; Roser, Max; Rosado, Pablo (2020-05-11). "CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 2024-08-16. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
- ^ Ritchie, Hannah (7 October 2019). "How do CO2 emissions compare when we adjust for trade?". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ "To prevent catastrophic global warming, China must hang tough". The Economist. 2019-09-19. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2019-10-04. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
- ^ "China aims to cut its net carbon-dioxide emissions to zero by 2060". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
- ^ "Why China's climate policy matters to us all". BBC News. 2021-08-08. Archived from the original on 2022-03-12. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
- ^ "China on Track to Blow Past Xi's Clean Power Goal Five Years Early". Bloomberg News. 28 June 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
- ^ "China's CO2 emissions fall but policies still not aligned with long-term goals". Reuters. 21 November 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-10-11. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
- ^ "China Climate Action". Climate Action Tracker. Archived from the original on 2021-05-15. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
- ^ Esarey, Ashley; Haddad, Mary Alice; Lewis, Joanna I.; Harrell, Stevan, eds. (2020). Greening East Asia: The Rise of the Eco-Developmental State. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-74791-0. JSTOR j.ctv19rs1b2.
- ^ Kahn, Joseph; Yardley, Jim (26 August 2007). "As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ a b "China National ETS". Archived from the original on 2019-06-03.
- ^ Nogrady, Bianca (2021-07-20). "China launches world's largest carbon market: but is it ambitious enough?". Nature. 595 (7869): 637. Bibcode:2021Natur.595..637N. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-01989-7.
- ^ a b c Swartz, Jeff (March 2016). "China's National Emissions Trading System" (PDF). Global Economic Policy and Institutions.
- ^ "China's Battle Against Air Pollution: An Update | Council on Foreign Relations". www.cfr.org. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ Fialka, ClimateWire, John. "China Will Start the World's Largest Carbon Trading Market". Scientific American. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
- ^ a b c "China's carbon market scheme too limited, say analysts". www.ft.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-16. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
- ^ a b c Bachulska, Alicja; Leonard, Mark; Oertel, Janka (2 July 2024). The Idea of China: Chinese Thinkers on Power, Progress, and People (EPUB). Berlin, Germany: European Council on Foreign Relations. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-916682-42-9. Archived from the original on 17 July 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Zeng, N.; Ding, Y.; Pan, J.; Wang, H.; Gregg, J. (2008). "SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Climate Change-the Chinese Challenge". Science. 319 (5864): 730–731. doi:10.1126/science.1153368. PMID 18258882. S2CID 206510567. Archived from the original on 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ a b "China's Climate Change Challenge Is Also the World's". Archived from the original on 2020-03-14. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
- ^ Dorn, Jonathan G. "Solar Cell Production Jumps 50 Percent in 2007". Earth Policy Institute. Archived from the original on 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
- ^ a b "China special: The solar power king". New Scientist.com. 2007-11-07. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ a b "China solar set to be 5 times 2020 target". Reuters. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on May 8, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
- ^ "Anwell Produces its First Thin Film Solar Panel". Solarbuzz. 2009-09-07.
- ^ Biello, David (2008-08-04). "China's Big Push for Renewable Energy". SciAm. Archived from the original on 2020-04-27. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ Ratliff, Evan. "The Green Wall Of China". Wired. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ "33% of China's Carbon Footprint Blamed on Exports". ABC News Abcnews.go.com. 2008-07-29. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ Jim WatsonWang Tao (2007-12-20). "Is the west to blame for China's emissions?". Chinadialogue.net. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ "Environmental Protection Agency announced the 130 multinational corporations environmental". www.zhb.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2008-08-21. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ "Goodbye Mr Kerry, farewell Mr Xie: end of an era in global climate politics". The Guardian. 2024-01-21. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ Milman, Oliver (2023-11-15). "US and China's joint climate plan leaves key questions unanswered". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ "Toxic cost of China' success". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2015-01-07.
- ^ "China green credit 'meets resistance'". Chinadialogue.net. 2008-02-13. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ China "does not accept" caps on greenhouse gas emissions [dead link]
- ^ Griffiths, Daniel (2007-05-07). "China's mixed messages on climate". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ Hübler, Michael; Voigt, Sebastian; Löschel, Andreas (2014-12-01). "Designing an emissions trading scheme for China—An up-to-date climate policy assessment". Energy Policy. 75: 57–72. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2014.02.019. ISSN 0301-4215.
- ^ Jiang Gaoming (2007-01-12). "The terrible cost of China's growth (part one)". Chinadialogue.net. Archived from the original on 2008-03-29. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ "Chinese concern over US dominance". BBC News. 2001-05-25. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ "Merkel presses China on climate". BBC News. 2007-08-27. Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ Blanchard, Ben (2007-08-01). "China blames climate change for extreme weather". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ García-Portela, Laura. “Moral Responsibility for Climate Change Loss and Damage: A Response to the Excusable Ignorance Objection”, International Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 1 (39), pp. 7-24 (2020).
- ^ Li, Jane. “China’s Xie Zhenhua is the most important person attending COP26”, Quartz (27 Oct 2021) via Yahoo Finance.
- ^ Waarlo, Niels (2021-11-04). "Westerse landen moeten in de spiegel kijken, vindt de man achter China's klimaatambities". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-11-05.
- ^ Li, Jane (27 October 2021). "China's Xie Zhenhua is the most important person attending COP26". Quartz. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
- ^ Curtis, Simon; Klaus, Ian (2024). The Belt and Road City: Geopolitics, Urbanization, and China's Search for a New International Order. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. doi:10.2307/jj.11589102. ISBN 9780300266900. JSTOR jj.11589102.
Works cited
[edit]- Friedlingstein, Pierre; Jones, Matthew W.; O'Sullivan, Michael; Andrew, Robbie M.; et al. (2019). "Global Carbon Budget 2019". Earth System Science Data. 11 (4): 1783–1838. Bibcode:2019ESSD...11.1783F. doi:10.5194/essd-11-1783-2019. hdl:20.500.11850/385668. ISSN 1866-3508.
External links
[edit]- China Takes a New Interest in Energy Efficiency by Keith Bradsher of The New York Times June 15, 2011
- A Green Solution, or the Dark Side to Cleaner Coal? by Keith Bradsher of The New York Times June 14, 2011
- Can China Go Green? No other country is investing so heavily in clean energy. But no other country burns as much coal to fuel its economy, Bill McKibben June 2011 National Geographic (magazine)
- China plots course for green growth amid a boom built on dirty industry; National economic blueprint set to tackle pollution and waste, and invest in renewable energy 4.February.2011
- China Pushes Clean-Energy Agenda Ahead of Summit November 22, 2011