taylor glover's List: Global Warming in China

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    China, soon to be the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, unveiled its first climate change initiative Tuesday.
• "China is a developing country. Although we do not have the obligation to cut emissions, it does not mean we do not want to shoulder our share of responsibilities," said Ma Kai, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission. 
  

  • china's prespective.

• China   is the rousing giant of global warming. It stands as a developing   nation outside the guidelines of the Kyoto treaty, yet with more   than one billion people and a huge energy-gobbling economy, it   is one of the most influential countries in climate change. It   is first in coal consumption and the number two nation in carbon   dioxide emissions behind the United States.

  • PICTURES OF CHINA AND GLOBAL WARMING ON THIS PAGE.
• China's leaders remain fixed on rapid development and increasing   energy use, yet the first steps are being taken toward emissions   control and alternative energy.

• BEIJING, April 22 (Reuters) - Global warming could devastate China's development, the nation's first official survey of climate change warns, while insisting economic growth must come before greenhouse gas cuts.
• "Climatic warming may have serious consequences for our environment of survival as China's economic sectors, such as agriculture and coastal regions, suffer grave negative effects," the report states.

  Fast-industrialising China could overtake the United States as the world's top emitter of human-generated greenhouse gases as early as this year, and Beijing faces rising international calls to accept mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions from factories, fields and vehicles.
• China was one of a few countries that challenged claims about global warming presented in a draft report at a U.N. climate change meeting in Brussels earlier this month. That report was approved after some claims were softened and passages removed.
• nless steps are taken, water scarcity and increasingly extreme weather could reduce nationwide crop production by up to 10 percent by 2030. Wheat, rice and corn growing capacity could fall by up to 37 percent in the second half of the century

  • dire consiquwnces

2 more annotations...

• I’ll spare you the details of all the recommendations (so you actually read them), but here are the main themes:

   

   

   
   
  1. Engage in serious bilateral meetings on climate change and address the key sticking points to reach meaningful agreement in Copenhagen in December 2009
   
  2. Establish a US–China forum on climate change strategies that promote green jobs and economic recovery
   
  3. Mobilize the untapped potential of energy efficiency
   
  4. Assist in the deployment of renewable energy sources and technologies
   
  5. Promote low-carbon, high-efficiency vehicles, fuels, transportation systems, and community development
   
  6. Expand research and investment on carbon capture and storage technology
   
  7. Improve greenhouse gas emissions monitoring and data transparency
   
  8. Conduct co-benefit analysis on GHG emissions controls
   
  9. Invest in regular exchanges and sharing of expertise to improve enforcement of environmental law and energy efficiency standards

  • good thoughts, sums up nicely.

• This high-level dialogue needs to be more than just broad declarations, press releases, and photo-ops, but a “roll-up” their sleeves process to get into the details of the tricky issues.  They could start with a couple of things that keep coming up in the negotiations and that need an agreed path forward:

   
   
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    the Chinese government’s desire for greater access to cleaner, more efficient technologies;
     
   
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     the US desire to export green technologies while maintaining intellectual property rights;
     
   
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     the need for both countries to commit to measurable, reportable, verifiable, and appropriate reductions in GHG emissions; and
     
   
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    the role of sectoral approaches where specific emission reduction actions are taken in key sectors of the economy, such as electricity and major energy-intensive industrial sectors (as I’ve discussed here and here).

• China burns more coal than any other country. It also leads the world in solar energy construction. So is China a global warming villain or a global warming hero — or both?

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     Greenpeace pressures China on global warming
   mongabay.com
   May 30, 2007 
   
  
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    Greenpeace stepped up the pressure on China to do something about its surging greenhouse gas emissions, launching a campaign that warns melting glaciers could hurt Chinese agriculture and hydroelectric projects. The environmental group cited a Chinese Academy of Sciences' projection that 80 percent of the glaciers in Tibet and the surrounding region could melt by 2035, though other research suggests more moderate melting. 
  
   China is expected to surpass the United States as the world's leading of greenhouse gases this year or next. To date it has fiercely rejected taking action on climate, arguing that it is the responsibility of industrialized countries to address the issue. Before the May 3 release of the latest assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) China worked to insert language that would reduce the report's urgency. 
  
• • This page has good graphs and information