Seven provinces and cities in China are to set caps on their greenhouse gas emissions, following a directive from central government. It's the first time the Chinese government has called for any absolute caps on emissions, having so far prefered softer "carbon intensity" targets.
The move is a first step towards establishing carbon trading markets in China and further evidence of the country's commitment to tackling climate change, says Felix Preston of Chatham House, a foreign-policy think tank based in London.
On 13 January China's National Development and Reform Commission asked the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and Shenzhen, and the provinces of Hubei and Guangdong, to set "overall emissions control targets".
The government hinted this move was coming last August, when it released a policy paper arguing that absolute caps were the only way to establish a working carbon market.
The new regional pilot projects are valuable steps towards a national carbon market, Preston says. For them to work, the cities and provinces will need to settle on stringent targets to keep the carbon price high, and collect reliable emissions data to ensure the targets are being met, he adds.
By allowing companies and institutions to trade emissions, carbon markets ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are cut in a cost-effective way. Europe has so far led the way in carbon markets after establishing its Emissions Trading Scheme in 2005. China would be a major new player.
A national Chinese carbon market would be a big step towards a global carbon market, says Preston, especially if the EU and Chinese markets could be linked.
Intensity cap
China has not yet set a national cap on its greenhouse gas emissions, citing the need to grow its economy. Instead it has set future limits on carbon intensity ? the amount of greenhouse gases emitted per unit of GDP. Setting targets in this way allows emissions to grow while requiring industries to become more productive over time for a given level of emissions.
The current five-year plan, covering 2011 to 2015, requires the country to reduce the carbon dioxide emitted per unit of GDP by 17 per cent by 2015.
Preston says these intensity targets are fine when a country's economy is growing rapidly, as is the case with China. But a fixed national cap would be better once China's emissions peak, which could happen in the 2020s or 2030s. "A cap offers less uncertainty than an intensity target," he says. "Over time it will make sense to have a fixed cap."
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