Environmental Studies Commons^™

Climate Protection In The People’S Republic Of China, Bartosz Rakoczy

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Climate protection is one of the basic problems in the modern world. It is also a problem which should be solved in an all-world scale and not by each state separately. It does not mean, however, that individual states could not regulate issues concerning climate protection in their own legislation. Constitutional regulations play an important role in climate protection.

Climate protection in the constitution of the People’s Republic Of China is carried out on several plains. First, climate is protected as an environmental element to the use of which all citizens have the right. Public authorities ensure climate protection. Second, …

Embedding Climate Change In The Curriculum, John Willott

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Climate change presents significant scientific, technical, ethical and political challenges. Attitudes to climate change are a function of tradition and culture, and the prevailing discourses in society and the media. Educators have a key role in understanding these attitudes and promoting behavioural changes. However, the transdisciplinary nature of the issues can present a problem for staff and students alike. While it is relevant to many, or most, areas of the curriculum, traditional discipline and organisational boundaries, and the knowledge, skills and educational history of both staff and students, can prevent engagement. Examples include teaching the concepts in non-science courses, engaging …

Sustainable Consumption And Production As Climate Change Mitigation Strategy For China, Patrick Schroeder

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

China’s greenhouse gas emissions currently stem mainly from sources related to industrial production and electricity generation. With accelerating speed of urbanisation and economic policies which aim to increase domestic consumption, over the next decade a major share of China’s emissions will be resulting from consumption related activities. This paper will discuss the current status of consumption in China and options of the integrated approach of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) for reducing emissions from the three consumption demand areas housing, mobility and food. In this context it discusses consumption trends and the growth of the global consumer class in China, …

Climate Change, The Traditional Chinese Calendar And Modernity, Rey Tiquia

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

This era of unpredictable and at times colossal global climactic weather changes place tremendous pressure upon the human internal environment to adapt to these dire changes in the external environment. It places tremendous pressure upon our inner Guardian Qi wei qi as well as the air or atmosphere da qi (which the Chinese Martial artist Lu Ji Tang refers to metaphorically as similar to our inner Guardian Qi).

In premodern China, climate change is always contingent upon time and the seasons i.e. the twelve two-hour periods, lunar month, seventy two pentads, twenty four solar periods, the four seasons, the year …

Public Initiatives And Local Practices In China’S Response To Climate Change, Lei Xie

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

China is facing increasing environmental pressure, among which climate change is the most serious one. As many areas are still under development, the country’s vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change lies not only in its ecological aspect but also its social aspect. In particular, the country’s increasing energy demand has posed serious problem, as the country strongly relies on fossil-fuels. Dilemmas exist between development and increasing level of pollution. Local government, to realize its political credibility often permits environmental pollution happen and has been ineffective in local environmental governance.

Chinese environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGO), led by journalists, scientists …

Modeling China’S Climate Change Policy In A Post-2012 Framework : On The Perspective Of Reputation, Edward Xuedong Wang

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The post-2012 world Climate Change scenario would heavily depend on China’s next steps on Climate Change Policy. The world could not coordinate their policies to slow global warming without China’s participation. However, China, the world’s largest GHG emitter with the rising energy demand, is reluctant to change its high-carbon economic development models by sticking to the concept of Climate Injustice. The Economic Cost and Climate Injustice are two major concerns Chinese government faces. This raises the issue of which approach would be most likely to stimulate and persuade China to take appropriate actions in the post-2012 climate regime.

This paper …

The Integrated Impacts Of Climate Change, Water Availability And Socio-Economic Development On China’S Food Production, Wei Xiong, Declan Conway, Erda Lin, Yinlong Xu, Hui Ju, Jinhe Jiang, Ian Holman, Yan Li

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Food production in China is a fundamental component of the national economy and driver of agricultural policy. Sustaining and increasing output to meet growing demand faces significant challenges including, climate change, increasing population, agricultural land loss, and competing demands for water. The integrated impacts of climate change, water availability, and other socioeconomic pressures on China’s food production are poorly understood. By linking crop and water simulation models and two scenarios of climate and socioeconomic change (downscaled from IPCC SRES A2 and B2) we demonstrate that under these scenarios out to 2050 the absolute effects of climate change alone are modest …

Ecological Localness And Legitimacy Of Science Policy : Mapping Climate Issue In Research Over China And Taiwan, Shih-Jung Chen

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

As science increasingly plays a vital role in global environmental governance, localness has become the focus in scientific interpretation of nature in terms of policy legitimacy and social communication. However, localness would not germinate until the issue of global change is linked locally, a social construction process which shapes the way of interpreting nature/society interaction and affects local ecological cognition. Localness thus indicates not only legitimacy but also an imperative for responsive actions in a society. It might be argued that although political consideration, with special respect to its stance in international negotiation, determines the extent to which national policy …

China's Renewable Energy Policy : From Project-Based To Strategic Policy Making: Cases Of Wind And Solar, Veronica Pei-Fei Chang, Hans Bruyninckx

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

China is challenged by the imbalance between rapid economic growth and lacking environmental protection. Economic growth and increasingly intensive use of energy are certainly the main causes of environmental degradation in China. However, the central state tries to find a way out of the energy-environment dilemma. In 2005, the Chinese president Hu Jin-Tao emphasized that renewable energy was “an indispensable measure to deal with the increasingly serious issues of energy and environment”. The following year, China's Renewable Energy Law took effect, indicating a turning point in the energy policy.

This paper investigates China’s wind and solar energy, because they both …

Climate Change In Hong Kong : Observations And Projections, Edwin W. L. Ginn, T. C. Lee, K. Y. Chan

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The Hong Kong Observatory has been making meteorological observations at its headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui since 1884. Analysis of the extensive past records reveals that the temperature rise in Hong Kong during the past 125 years is in accord with the global rising trend. In last few decades anthropogenic influences, especially urbanization, have contributed significantly to the accelerated rising trend. A similar increasing trend is also observed for rainfall but the trend after 1947 is not statistically significant. Other observations such as increasing cloud amounts, decreasing total global solar radiation and rising sea level are all consistent with the …

China’S Dilemma In Climate Change Mitigation : The Energy Problem, Bo Miao, Graeme Lang

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The vulnerability of China to the adverse impacts of rising global warming is outlined, including projected impacts on coastlines, agriculture, water supply, land degradation, and public health, since these are important reasons why China, partly for reasons of national security, is increasingly addressing the climate change problem in national and international discussions. This paper then profiles China’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and illustrates how the pressure from the international community, especially that from the US, would impel China to make more substantial contribution to global climate effort. After examining China’s coal-dominated energy mix, we review the current approaches undertaken by …

Are There Policy Tunnels For China To Follow?, Jan Kunnas, Timo Myllyntaus

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

According to the controversial “environmental Kuznets curve” –hypothesis (EKC), some pollution would follow an inverted U-curve related to incomes, increasing at low income levels and decreasing at high income levels. Mohan Munasinghe argues (in a gerschenkronian way): “that developing countries could learn from past experiences of the industrialized world by adopting measures which would permit them to ´tunnel´ through the EKC, providing a possibility to avoid the most serious damage to the environment by avoiding the peak before a downturn of the emissions...” In our presentation, which is based on a comparison of Denmark’s, Finland’s, Sweden’s and Switzerland’s carbon dioxide …

Predictability And China’S Legally Binding Goal Of Co2 Emissions In The Copenhagen Negotiation, Yuan Xu

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Two facts define China’s status in the global efforts of CO2 mitigation: China has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest CO2 emitter. And as a developing country with low per capita emissions, China will grow into a much bigger one. Accordingly, in the coming Copenhagen negotiation, whether China will accept a legally binding goal is of great importance. China’s CO2 emissions in the past three decades are analyzed in this paper to distinguish two prominent features: abrupt changes and cycles. Abrupt changes break the past trend and make projections into the future unreliable. China has experienced two abrupt …

Rural Livelihoods And Vulnerability To Climate Hazards In Ningxia, Northwest China, Yue Li, Yanjuan Wu, Declan Conway, F. Preston, Erda Lin, Jisheng Zhang, Taoming Wang, Yi Jia, Qingzhu Gao, Shifeng, Hui Ju

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

This study addresses how climate affects the livelihoods of people living in agricultural communities in Ningxia, one of the five autonomous regions in China. The analysis formed part of a vulnerability assessment to contribute to the development of an adaptation strategy for the region. Data were collected through questionnaires and focus group discussions in nine villages, three located in each of three different agro-ecosystems in the region. The survey results showed that drought has been a major hazard impacting rural livelihoods. Farmers in all three agro-ecosystems showed differing levels of vulnerability; susceptibility was higher, for instance, in the middle arid …

Climate Change And Heatwaves : China’S Responsibility Before The Poor Elderly, José Azoh Barry

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

OBJECTIVE: To address the extent of China’s obligation toward the elderly – a growing segment of the population -- as more vulnerable to heat waves.

METHOD: Data handled are secondary and derived from a non-exhaustive review of a specialized scientific literature. The search for relevant publications was conducted from a multidisciplinary perspective.

RESULTS: Of the various sources of human influences on climate, two major ones related to heat waves appear to be urban designs and greenhouse gas emissions. The urban heat islands effects as local anthropogenic impacts on climate increase the need for air conditioning and demand for power consumption …

Land Use And Climate Change : Effects And Solutions At The Local Level, Mark Henderson

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

China is likely already seeing the effects of climate change. Further effects in the form of increased temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and rising sea levels could be catastrophic, making action at all levels an urgent priority. While much attention is rightfully paid to reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuels, land management practices account for as much as a quarter of the net increase in greenhouse gasses. In China, urbanization is the most important and tractable phenomenon affecting the landscape, reducing carbon sequestration, as well as locking in transportation patterns that assume increasing fossil fuel use into the future. Developing systems …

Liability For Climate Change : A Decentralized Approach To Long-Term Climate Policy, Detlef Sprinz

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

An international agreement on deep emission reductions is unlikely to materialize in the near future. What can be done if we wish to further an ambitious long-term climate policy goal? This article proposes a liability system that starts with at least one frontrunner and allows itself to be taken to court for the damages related to its emissions. Such a system will be fully upscalable to larger liability pools, and allows the rule of law to prevent dangerous climate change to a reasonable degree. Furthermore, I suggest strict proportionality as a distributional rule to provide powerful incentives to mitigate emissions. …

Do All Roads Lead To Copenhagen? The Case Of China’S Participation In The Post-2012 Climate Change Regime, Ho-Ching Lee

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Climate change is a global challenge and requires a global solution. In late 2007, governments adopted the Bali Roadmap, launching negotiations toward a new global climate agreement. Among nations with large CO2 emissions, only China, sustains a rapid economic growth dependent on the expanded use of carbon-intensive coal. The role of China in post- Kyoto climate negotiations is therefore critical to the international effort to combat climate change and global warming.

In fact, China ratified the UNFCCC in January 1993 and was among the first ten countries to become Convention Parties. Over the years, China has been actively participating in …

Looking Beyond : Changes For Climate Change, Changes For Development, Gerald Schmidt

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

In the climate debate, there is a stalemate when the discussion revolves around other's responsibility based on historical emissions and present (un)willingness to participate in international treaties justified by a necessary focus on development on the one side, and an unwillingness to act if the others do not also do so, based on concern about economic competitiveness, on the other side. The problem arises from a view that sees it as a basic necessity to first develop, get rich enough, and then clean up, as suggested in Kuznet's Curve, and about relative costs of alternative energy and production, respectively. Looking …

Asia-Pacific Partnership On Clean Development And Climate : China And International Climate Policy Beyond Kyoto, Christoph Holtwisch

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate [APP] of Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, USA and their new partner Canada is a new phenomenon in international climate policy and open for enlargement by other interested states. This nonlegally binding sustainable development Partnership connects climate protection and energy security for the first time in an international agreement. As a potential framework for the other 'parallel tracks' to the UN climate regime of Framework Convention on Climate Change [FCCC] and Kyoto Protocol [KP], the APP – which is still by far underfinanced – at its core is a political agreement …

Evaluating Co2 Capture Ready Investment In New-Built Thermal Power Plants In China, Xi Liang, David Reiner, Jon Gibbins, Jia Li

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The total thermal power capacity has grown by 65GW to over 600GW by the end of 2008 (CEC, 2009). Chinese government, industry and academic stakeholders perceive that China will not mandate new plants to be built with carbon dioxide capture and storage systems in the short term and there is little incentive even to contemplate the first steps needed to fit plants with capture equipment (Reiner et al, 2007). Therefore, we evaluate CO2 Capture Ready (CCR) investment, which would enable thermal power plants to be retrofitted to capture CO2 without unnecessary additional costs when the appropriate policy and /or economic …

Sectoral Approach : What Is In It For The Chinese Economy?, Joyashree Roy, Moumita Roy, Shreya Roychowdhury

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

In any international negotiation on climate change close link among science, economics and politics can hardly be ignored. The argument for mitigation in case of long lived stock pollutants can never be rationally based on current growth level. It is a complex situation and any over simplifies approach will further complicate rather than lead to any positive solution. Competitiveness argument, border adjustment, trade barriers on emission intensive goods and services of Annex I countries can hardly be justified even at the current market share in trade, production, consumption. The best way to approach the problem can be to combine domestic …

Reverse Positions : Can China Be The Winner In Sino-Eu’S Post-Kyoto Negotiations Of Combating Climate Change?, Yu Qiao

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

This study examines the Sino-EU’s post-Kyoto negotiations for combating climate change from 2007 to 2008, and answers the question why the EU could not lead China to adopt the post-Kyoto quantitative reduction targets on greenhouse gases by exploring the characteristics of China’s climate negotiation strategy.

This study argues that until the end of 2008, the reason that the “tug of war” between China and the EU did not result in any new perspectives or feasible outcomes is due to China’s reluctance of adopting the post-Kyoto quantitative reduction target and the EU’s lack of leadership. Both China and the EU wanted …

Eu-China Relations On Climate Change Policies And The Role Of Bilateral Cooperation For A Global Climate Change Regime, Astrid Carrapatoso

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

What must the European Union do to make China commit to binding regulations on greenhouse gases? China has been one of the major veto players with regard to binding rules on carbon emissions in context of the Kyoto Protocol and the negotiations of a Post-Kyoto arrangement. And yet, China is one of the largest polluters in this respect. Because of its economic growth rates, emissions are likely to rise in the future. It is therefore necessary to find viable solutions that encourage China to limit and finally reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, the EU has internationally showed leadership in …

Emerging Opportunities For Responding To Climate Change In The Obama Administration : Why China Should Propel Developing Countries Towards Global Carbon Reduction Cooperation, Richard Ingwe, S. P. I. Agi, James Okoro

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The use of diplomatic brinkmanship by the USA and her more recent uncooperativeness with global response to the climate crisis (Kyoto Protocol) under the presidencies of George W. Bush and Bill J. Clinton has led to fears in quarters that China, a rapidly industrialising country might opt to become uncooperative in the global climate change efforts. We use suitable conceptual frameworks of international relations to review the US’ previous conduct in international relations during the “cold war” among others to analyse recent issues pertaining to global carbon reduction under the Kyoto Protocol. We argue that China’s rising profile in economic, …

The Non-Cooperator Pays Principle : Pragmatic Norms And The Us-China Mitigation Standoff, Jonathan Symons

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

If the US and EU agree to stringent emission targets in a post-Kyoto successor agreement but China does not, would carbon tariffs on Chinese imports be justified? A dominant view of climate justice affirms the 'polluter pays principle' as the most appropriate distributive principle for allocating the costs of mitigating climate change and asserts that carbon tariffs on developing world imports are unjust. Against this widely accepted standard of justice this paper defends the appropriateness of more pragmatic climate norms. In particular the paper defends a forward-looking 'non-cooperator pays' principle which states that under the condition of anarchy, actors negotiating …

Wto Law As Leverage : An Inquiry Into The Dynamics Of Climate Negotiations Between China And The United States, Dan Partan

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Current U.S. “cap & trade” federal legislative proposals seek to maintain competitiveness of U.S. industry by requiring certain importers to obtain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions permits equivalent to the permits required from U.S. producers. Currently neither U.S. nor Chinese producers are subject to such a rule. If China does not adopt what the U.S. views as a “comparable” GHG emissions permit system, it is widely expected that the U.S. Congress will require GHG emissions permit for imports. It is also widely expected that China will challenge U.S. a GHG emissions permit requirement applied to Chinese exports as in violation of …

Climbing The Great Wall : How The Interplay Between China And The United States Will Affect Mitigation In A Kyoto Successor Treaty, Elizabeth Dinello

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

China and the United States have the ability to radically shape a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol. China’s placement as a non-Annex I nation under the Kyoto Protocol has had significant negative consequences for climate change, and China is now the top emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. The United States has thus far refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol. China will not sign a Kyoto successor treaty unless the United States is on board and vice versa. If either party is uncooperative in negotiating a successor treaty, there will be no effective treaty. The Kyoto Protocol has …

China, The United States And Global Warming : A Planetary Prisoners’ Dilemma, Philip S. Golub, Jean-Paul Maréchal

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

The paper examines some key economic dimensions and the international relations implications of the last question posed in the call for papers: “Given that China and the United States are the largest national sources of gas pollution, albeit with very different capabilities and historical responsibilities, how might they work together to protect the atmospheric commons?”

Social Economic And Political Aspects Of Climate Change, Anandi Sharan

Conference on China and Global Climate Change : Reconciling International Fairness and Protection of the Atmospheric Commons

Instead of the notion that “developing countries will be able to use emission backed currency units to pay off their debts”, we find “developing countries must forgive developed countries their $ debts so that the ecbu-based climate regime can be introduced.” Looking at foreign debt as it stands, India may not yet have an interest in an emission backed currency unit (ecbu), and other developing countries might or might not either, or too, not until the dollar mess is sorted out. More important before the introduction of the emission backed currency unit is the demise of the dollar economies and …