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Exam Number: Y8195221
1
UNIVERSITY OF YORK
How effective is the Chinese government in protecting
the environment?
BA Politics with International Relations
Dissertation
May 2014
Dissertation Word Count: 9958
Exam Number: Y8195221
Exam Number: Y8195221
2
Abstract
It has been widely recognized that environmental protection is a global issue
and developing countries are making increasingly significant contributions to
global environmental problems (Zhao, 2005). In the face of unprecedented
economic and industrial growth levels, China is rapidly developing its system of
environmental governance, and has contributed significantly to environment
and climate change protections. This dissertation aims to assess the damages
of climate change, investigate the philosophical understandings of who should
be held responsible for the climate change, evaluate the transformations in
China’s environmental governance, and consider the realistic incentives behind
its actions. Despite the negative international responses to the Chinese
government’s environmental performance, China has actually contributed
substantially towards climate protection. This is because, on the one hand,
China itself has experienced severe climate change consequences, while, on
the other hand, it has been stimulated by the benefit of participation. Therefore
new relations between the environment and the state, plus an opening up
towards the outside are characterizing a new mode of environmental
governance that in turn is allowing China to develop in more sustainable
directions.
178 words
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“We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our
Children.”
Ancient Indian proverb
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Content
Abstract 2
Foreword 3
Content 4
Introduction 5
Chapter 1: The Impact of Climate Change 11
Chapter 2: Negative Responses to the Chinese
Government’s Environmental Performance 18
Chapter 3: Evaluation of the Chinese Government’s Role in
Environment Protection 27
Chapter 4: ‘Realism’ and Climate Change 38
Conclusion 43
Bibliography 47
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Introduction
The environment is undergoing dramatic and rapid changes. Most notably, the
earth has become markedly warmer, often involving droughts, floods,
earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and rising sea levels (McNeill, 2008). In
addition to these problems, the climate has become increasingly unpredictable.
This has importance consequences for human life. (Caney, 2005). Climate
change and environmental problems are also no longer perceived as localized
concerns, affecting relatively few people with few long-term effects (Garner,
1996) – instead, they have become a global problem. Human beings are not
only being affected by climate change but also themselves influence the
environment, which may lead to further climate change through a host of
manmade activities, for example: producing and consuming ozone depletion
substances, burning fossil fuels which create massive greenhouse gas
emissions, unlimited extraction of non-renewable resources, and using
chemical substances which effect natural lands and ecological systems.
Human activities cause climate change and this is not only damaging specific
countries but also affecting other countries’ ecosystems. For example, China’s
lands are increasingly affected by the phenomenon of desertification (Brown,
2002). Increasing frequent dust storms are affecting Beijing (which is
experiencing more than 25 storms a year) and the area situated north of the
Yangtze River (Grano, 2008). This has also become an international
environmental problem because these storms often reach as far as Korea,
Japan and even the US, with lethal effects on human health when these dust
Exam Number: Y8195221
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particles are inhaled (US, 2002). Furthermore, in December 2005, a chemical
company spilled thousands of tons of benzene into the Songhua River, creating
an international incident that not only affected the Songhua River, and the
drinking water supply of millions of Chinese, but also threatened downstream
cities in Russia (Stalley, 2009). Therefore since many of the negative effects of
global production are not confined within national boundaries but spill over to
affect other parts of the world, the seriousness of global environmental
problems associated with industrial production and other economic activities
have become all too clear (Braithwaite and Drahos, 2000).
China has been witnessing an unprecedented period of continuous high
economic growth during the last 15 years. It started to experience a process of
modernization and transition beginning in the mid-1980s, and started to
accelerate and mature in the early 1990s, showing average national economic
growth percentages of around 9% and more (Mol and Carter, 2006a). The
increasing economic openness of China to the global market, led to an
unprecedented increase in international trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and
produced a massive amount of international Chinese travelers. In the face of
these extraordinary economic and social developments, China has rapidly
begun developing and perfecting its own system of environmental governance.
This dissertation aims to understand and assess the direction, extent and speed
of change in China’s environmental governance - exploring the philosophical
understandings of climate change in relation to China, and the relationship
between Chinese central government and local authorities. This dissertation will
also evaluate the connections between international pressures and government
Exam Number: Y8195221
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performance, and through the use of international relations theory, investigate
the reasons why China is involved in climate prevention, both domestically and
internationally.
The argument in this dissertation is that despite international responses to the
Chinese government performance often being negative, China has been, and
continues to work hard to create a new mode of environmental governance -
even during times where it has not been legally bound by international
agreements - directing China to develop in a more sustainable direction.
The reason why China has been chosen as the focus of this study is because it
is an interesting case, for no developing country in economic history – other
than post-Mao China – has cut its energy-related greenhouse gas emissions’
growth so deeply and for so long (William and Wang, 2009). Also, as a fast
growing and developing country, China is facing a lot of environmental issues,
which has inspired me to investigate further. This dissertation not only focuses
on the issue of climate change but also offers an analysis of Chinese
environmental policies in general, as environmental policies and climate policies
are explicitly interconnected with each other.
In order to evaluate how the Chinese government deals with climate change,
and the successes, failures and dilemmas of the environmental challenges it
faces, we are in need of much more detailed analyses and insights into various
Chinese environmental policy developments and social practices. By achieving
this aim, this dissertation utilizes a range of research, demonstrating the validity
of the aforementioned arguments. This paper uses a wide range of literature to
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examine the responses of the Chinese government to climate change issues,
including policies, academic journals, and newspaper articles. By integrating
international relations theory, realism, and philosophical arguments, a more
precise theoretical and philosophical understanding of Chinese government
incentives can be acknowledged.
This dissertation has four chapters. Chapter one will first demonstrate the
impact of climate change on the earth. Simultaneously, it will demonstrate how
China has suffered from environmental damage and climate change, and also
illustrate what impact of Chinese economic development has had on the
environment.
In chapter two, the dissertation will illustrate that international coverage of the
environmental policies on climate change of the developed countries is often
unfairly negative about the response of the Chinese government. This will be
demonstrated via a discussion of critics who have opposed China in recent
COPs. In addition to this, I will also clarify the theoretical concepts of the
Polluter Pays Principle (PPP), the Equal Per Capita Emissions Principle
(EPCEP) and the concepts of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities
(CBDR) on the issue of climate change, in order to indicate they are hard to be
applied in practice.
Despite the negative responses of developed countries to the Chinese
government’s performance on climate change prevention, Chapter three will
demonstrate a number of notable achievements on climate protection, made by
the Chinese government, both domestically and internationally. The
Exam Number: Y8195221
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government was actively engaged in the post-Kyoto Protocol, the Montreal
Protocol, and has effectively addressed climate issues using the domestic Five
Year Plan over the past few decades, hugely and positively contributing to
international emissions targets. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI)
also shows how well the Chinese government has performed when facing
environmental challenges.
Following chapter three, the final chapter will argue that China is a classic case
for investigating tensions between national net benefits and environmental
protection. The international relations theory – realism - explains the reason
why China is trying to create a new mode of environmental governance, and
develop in a sustainable way, giving us a better understanding of the Chinese
government’s incentives on climate protection. There are five reasons for this:
first, climate change will cause huge damage to farmland and infrastructures,
therefore diminishing state power. This negative consequence has driven state
to participate actively in the climate prevention. Second, in response to
questions posed in chapter one, the Chinese government has discovered the
necessity of creating a climate policy, as recent climate science indicates
damage to China from climate change. Third, the public health co-benefits of
reducing other air pollutants, along with greenhouse gases (GHGs), may have
helped create the GHG emission limits that motivated China to participate.
Fourth, the Chinese government fears that climate change may exacerbate
political and social stresses within China, which the leadership may seek to
avoid in order to maintain political stability. Finally, the design of the
international climate treaty regime itself is likely to offer positive incentives to
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China (Wiener, 2008).
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Chapter 1
The Impact of Climate Change
Early interest in the political implications of environmental degradation stemmed
from an appreciation that human societies were bounded by ecological limits,
the breaching of which could lead to socio-economic catastrophes (Erlich 1971;
Hardin 1968; Meadows et al. 1972; Brown 1977; Catton 1982). It is important to
notice that the earth has frequently suffered from climate change; and it has not
only damaged human life but also influenced other species on earth. Agriculture
and food become under threat when climate change occurs, and this negatively
influences the activities of human development. On the supply side, the erosion
of arable land stock is likely to decrease agricultural production, as will an
increasing incidence of agricultural pests and disease (Habib, 2011). Rising
average temperatures are predicted to depress crop yield across regions, with
grain crops particularly susceptible to climate variation (Cruz et al, 2007). In
China, the agriculture-pasture land transition signifies that a climate zone
boundary is being pushed southward, decreasing the stock of arable farmland
and leaving new grassland areas vulnerable to desertification in combination
with human-induced degradation (Chen and Tang, 2005). The increasing
temperature is directly affecting crops by changing precipitation patterns, length
of growing season, intensity and timing of extreme weather events (Habib,
2011).
Climate change directly affects hydrology and water sources. According to
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World Bank estimates, 480 million Chinese, almost 40% of the population, are
currently living in regions facing water scarcity (Yardley, 2007). The occurrence
of droughts in China, as shown by the United Nations and the World Bank
Predict, will continue to increase in severity over the next 50 years (Lai, 2009).
The global average surface temperature has also increased by 0.3–0.6 degrees
Celsius since the 19th century, while the average increase in China within the
same time period is 0.5–0.8 degree Celsius. This rapid change in temperature
has had a direct and profound impact on the Himalayan Mountain region (Lai,
2009), while projections show that a temperature rise of 4 degrees Celsius
could trigger rapid melting of glaciers on a global scale. The shrinking of these
could lead to: flooding from glacial lakes into the upper reaches of the Yangtze
River, and a lower volume of water in the Yangtze’s downstream areas (Lai,
2009). Glaciers melting in the Himalayas could lead to the overflow of 200
glacial lakes and produce large-scale flooding and mudslides in mountainous
areas. In a particularly devastating example, on 10 June 2004, rapid landslides
and massive flooding from the River Yi’ong Zangbo in the Tibetan Plateau
destroyed approximately 10 bridges, 50 miles of high way and hundreds of
homes in Tibet (Lai, 2009).
The melting of glaciers, thermal expansion of warming oceans, along with
tectonic movement, local ground subsidence in coastal areas and rising sea
levels, also subsequently threaten countries’ coastal areas (Habib, 2011). Low-
lying coastal areas will be increasingly vulnerable to resultant higher tides and
storm surges, exacerbating coastal erosion (Habib, 2011). For example, global
warming has already had a direct impact on China’s coastal areas, including
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Shanghai. Shanghai is located in a low-lying area near the mouth of the
Yangtze River, with a relatively lower land level, making it inherently vulnerable
to rising sea levels. This has created a huge risk for populations in the region.
Apart from the threats listed above, the IPCC also forecasts numerous human
health issues resulting directly and indirectly from climate change (Habib, 2011).
These would involve a growing incidence of hunger as food insecurity grows, a
higher incidence of heat stress during the heat wave events, and higher
exposure of human populations to tropical disease vectors, as the climate
becomes more favorable for their northward expansion (Habib, 2011). Warmer
winter temperatures across regions may also increase the prevalence of vector-
borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and schistosomiasis, due to the
more favorable breeding conditions of a warmer and more humid climate for
insect vectors (Cruz et al., 2007). Anthropogenic climate change is a global
commons problem due to its causes – man-made greenhouse gas emissions –
and its impact on human societies is distributed across the boundaries and
jurisdictions of individual states (Keohane et al 1994; Vogler 2011). Therefore
such health threats would spread out from one country to another regardless of
state boundaries, meaning that environmental issues are not a single nation’s
problem but rather a global problem.
However, in China, climate change was not paid much attention before the
1970s. Neither imperial nor Maoist China avoided environmental degradation
(Shapiro, 2001). The Chinese government received many negative responses
from developed countries about its climate prevention performance. From 1958
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to 1960, the Great Leap Forward had left serious negative environmental
legacies because of the Maoist negligence of nature. The process can be partly
explained by the utopian urgency that had rapidly advanced industrialization
and agricultural production in China, and partly by the communist credo stating
that environmental problems are the creation of capitalist countries and are
therefore, by definition, nonexistent in China (Ross 1988, 8; Harris, 2009).
Throughout time, the rapid economic and industrial modernization and
development happening in China, ushered in a new phase of continuous
environmental pressure (Mol and Carter, 2006a). In 1979, when Deng Xiaoping
announced China’s ‘open door’ policy, there was a dramatic increase in
business numbers and living standards for several hundred millions of people
(Heggelund, Andresen and Buan, 2010). China’s gross domestic product (GDP)
per capita (PPP) reached US$6,000 in 2008 (CIA, 2009). This policy resulted in
a huge acceleration of economic development and has been become the
general guideline for all policies in China (Stensdal, 2012). China as a
developing country, with the world’s largest population, highlighted economic
growth and poverty alleviation as its mainstream agenda and paramount aim.
Compared with the previous Maoist Great Leap Forward, this opening policy
mainly focused on resource-intensive economic growth, which did however lead
to a doubling of energy demand, in comparison with the economic growth in the
period 1947-1979 (Levine, 1999). As a consequence, this massive economic
growth has had tremendous side effects in terms of environmental degradation,
including ozone-depletion, weak resource management leading to unlimited
natural non-renewable resources extraction, the burning of fossil fuels and
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subsequent massive greenhouse gas emissions, exceeding the absorption
capacity of the atmosphere. With a population of nearly 1.3 billion people, China
exhibits all the signs of a typical developmental dilemma. Even though the
negative environmental effects associated with economic growth are
recognized by the authorities, economic growth remains the most urgent priority
for China (Heggelund, Andresen and Buan, 2010). Vice versa, China’s growing
economic and financial strengths are tempered by large-scale environmental
problems, along with official corruption at the local level and the limited
influence of the central government at the provincial and county level. This has
all led to considerable and increasing incidences of civil unrest and societal
instability (Economy, 2007; Morton, 2006).
During the early years of the reform and opening up policy, growth-oriented
norms and economic opportunities led local leaders to welcome polluting firms
for the local employment opportunities and financial benefits they produced, as
well as for personal gain (Jahiel, 2006). During this period, Chinese
manufacturing industries were increased dramatically in order to meet the fast
growing demand, both domestically and internationally. However, with immature
technology skills and weak incentives for environment protection, those
manufacturing industries began to flood the country’s rivers with toxic pollutants
to an extreme extent. Other, bigger enterprises, however, geared with the most
recent pollution-control devices simply decided not to use them to avoid
increasing production costs (Grano, 2008). Globalization as a key driving force
for the economic situation also imposed huge pressures on China; entering into
the WTO was a sign that, on the one hand, China could began to gain
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opportunities to learn new technologies, while on the other hand, it was able to
race for stronger domestic capacities, even at a cost to the environment.
Throughout China, the opportunities to reap large financial rewards from
investment ventures have grown dramatically, but more ventures have
supported heavily polluting industries that have destroyed the soils and streams
of surrounding communities (Jahiel, 2006). These damages have exacerbated
China’s ecological system and led serious environmental problems for both
present and future generations.
Developed countries have often criticized the level of air pollutions that is
produced in China. In recent years, air pollution in China has indeed become a
serious problem - obvious to any visitor to a large Chinese city (The World
Bank, 2007, 2013). China has seen rapidly increasing carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions in recent years. In 2007, the country overtook the US to become the
largest global CO2 emitter, and its emissions continue to grow (Miao, 2014).
These increasing emissions levels have put China under both international and
national scrutiny, particularly as 70% of China’s energy comes from coal – a
fossil fuel responsible for a host of other environmental impacts, including poor
air quality (Miao, 2014). In 2011, air quality reached “crisis” level in Beijing. As
the US Embassy reported, particulate air pollution in Beijing had exceeded the
maximum standard scale, and the situation was described as “crazily bad”. The
media also reported that the pollution had brought a rush of patients to hospitals
during those weeks, most suffering from heart attacks or respiratory problems.
These dramatic and visible air pollution problems resurfaced again in January
2013 (Wu, Deng, Huang, Morck, Yeung, 2013). But there is not just the issue of
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air pollution but also industrial pollution, caused by sulfur dioxide (SO2), which
has already caused serious damage to human lives alongside environmental
degradation, SO2 is the main substance causing acid rain. China is the largest
emitter of chlorofluorocarbons and, largely due to its reliance on coal,
discharges twice as much sulfur as the US, which contributes to acid rain in
South Korea and Japan (Stalley, 2009). Acid rain has always been one of the
top concerns in China because of its ability to create wide spread damages,
causing concerns for neighboring countries and the wider international society
over the last three decades.
However the debate on who is to blame and who is to pay for climate change
has been raised, along with discussions on environmental issues. Some people
argue that the enormous divide between rich and poor countries has made it
increasingly easy for the industrialized world to stall and keep blaming China
and other developing countries, while the latter continue to resist significant cuts
and legally binding targets (Leahy, 2009) despite the historical inequality of
those emissions (Shah, 2012).
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Chapter 2
Negative Responses to the Chinese Government’s
Environmental Performance
The Chinese government has received enormous criticism regarding its
responses to international environmental policies on climate change. Blame
was directed at China for the failure of the Copenhagen summit. This, alongside
the negative media attention, surprised China “…since it felt like it had brought
a lot to the table by agreeing to reduce its carbon intensity and taking significant
steps to improve energy efficiency and renewables,” said Alvin Lin, China
Climate and Energy Policy Director at the National Resources Defense Council
(cited in Hsu and Zhao, 2011). Apart from that, the UK’s then-climate change
secretary, Ed Miliband, said that China had ‘vetoed’ targets of 50% global
emissions reductions and 80% reductions by developed countries by 2050.
Miliband complained that China responded with a great degree of resistance, as
they initially did not want to sign a legal agreement (The Telegraph, 2009).
Brazil’s representative also pointed out how illogical China’s position was
(Lynas, 2009). In general, the main criticism leveled against the Chinese
commitment is that it represents the status quo, or the continuation of current
policies, measures, trends, and can be considered nothing more than a
“business-as-usual” response (Chandler, 2009).
However, it is wrong to criticise China’s pledge to reduce its carbon intensity by
45% by 2020, because this criticism lacks knowledge and context (William and
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Wang, 2009). Indeed, no developing country in economic history has cut its
energy-related greenhouse gas emissions growth so deeply and for so long
(Chandler, 2009). The criticism is also no minor academic failing, but provides
cover for the opponents of climate change action in the US (Chandler, 2009), as
the US neither wants to participate in emission reductions nor be a leader in the
international emissions reduction target. In fact, the criticism could never be an
excuse for the US not to take action. That is because if China implements its
Copenhagen commitment and the US implements President Obama’s target,
which is to reduce its current emissions by almost 20% by 2020, US per capita
emissions would still be double those of China in 2020 (International Energy
Agency, 2009). Therefore, the US still needs to reduce its emissions to a very
large extent in order to meet the standard. The criticism of China’s 2020 target
is therefore neither productive nor justified, and, if not a cynical ploy to avoid US
action, can be explained only by labeling it as lazy scholarship or reflexive
“China bashing” (Chandler, 2009). Apart from the criticism of the Chinese
government by developed countries, it is worth mentioning the following
context, whereby PPP, EPCEP and CBDR principles and concepts suggested
that developed countries should pay for the costs of climate change. However,
climate change is indeed a complex question and these principles are hard to
be applied in real situations.
When investigating who should be held responsible for the cost of climate
change, the question of who has caused climate change follows. Throughout
history, industrialization led by developed countries has emitted massive
greenhouse gases, causing most of the air pollution and climate change we
Exam Number: Y8195221
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suffer today. In other words, industrialization not only benefited the developed
countries by cumulating capital, but also caused harm to others by leaving
environmentally damaging substances on earth. One common way of thinking
about harms, including both environmental and non-environmental harms, is
that those who have caused a problem (such as pollution) should foot the bill –
that is “the polluter should pay” (Caney, 2005, p.125).
The polluter pays principle suggests the most defensible account of fairness
guideline, with the rich countries bearing the brunt, and perhaps even the
entirety, of the costs (Gardiner, 2004). The evidence, according to the World
Resource Institute’s Climate Analysis Indicator Tool (CAIT), indicates that the
US and the EU emitted over 55% of the carbon dioxide produced from 1850 to
2003, whereas China was responsible for less than 8%. It is convincible to
argue that China does not have a major responsibility for the cause of GHG and
therefore does not have to take on the burdens of climate prevention. It would
make more sense for the developed countries who are most responsible for
causing the problem in the past to make the greatest sacrifices to address it
(Smith and Lennon, 2008).
Furthermore, the idea that those parties with the most resources should
contribute the most to the endeavor, (Shue, 1999), is also convincing.
Developed countries on average have more capital reserves than developing
countries, therefore they could make changes more easily. The most urgent aim
for developing countries is to meet their basic needs, as the problem of lack of
food, lack of clean drinking water and lack of jobs are more important than
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environmental protection. It is unfair for people in states with far more than
enough to expect people in states with less than enough to turn their attention
away from their own urgent problems in order to cooperate with the much
better-off in solving their problems (Shue, 1999). In this case, developed
countries have more obligations to contribute to the cost of climate change.
According to Caney’s PPP, developed countries caused the GHG emissions so
therefore they have historical responsibility for the cost of climate change and
they have a comparatively stronger domestic capacity than developing
countries.
However, the PPP is hard to apply in practice. As the US and others have
characterize it is unfair to make the industrialized nations pay for climate
emissions that were emitted in the past century or longer ago, at a time when
they did not know it would cause more harm (Boden, Marland and Andres,
2011). Furthermore, it must be acknowledged that the PPP is not easily
extended in an intergenerational context (Caney, 2005). This is because the
PPP is inapplicable when the pollution results from people no longer alive and
also cannot be applied to the distant past - it can only be applied to the present
and near past (Caney, 2005).
Apart from the PPP, the EPCEP is also hard to apply in real life situations.
Stabilizing carbon emissions at current levels would give a per capita rate of
roughly one ton per year. This gives an equal entitlement standard that
individual can emit. But actual emissions in rich countries are substantially in
excess of this: the US is at more than 5 tons per capita (and rising); and Japan,
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Australia, and Western Europe are all in a range from 1.6 to 4.2 tons per capita
(with most below 3). India and China, on the other hand, are significantly below
their per capita allocation (at 0.29 and 0.76, respectively) (Singer 2002, pp.29-
40). Therefore, the principle suggests that developing countries on an even-
handed baseline should be allowed to increase emissions, whereas developed
countries such as the US should cut their emissions in order to achieve the
average per capita standard. However, the last data for 2012 shows China and
the UK have almost identical per capita emissions, meaning that China should
not delay its actions on reducing emissions. Also, the real objection to allocating
the atmosphere’s capacity to absorb greenhouse gases to nations on the basis
of equal per capita shares is that it would be tremendously dislocating for
industrialized nations to reduce their emissions so much that, within 5, 10, or 15
years, they are not producing more than their share, on a per capita basis, of
some acceptable level of greenhouse gas (Singer, 2002). Furthermore, if you
take historical emissions into consideration, developed countries may not be
entitled for any further emissions at all (Garvey, 2008). In practice, it seems
impossible for the US to meet the requirement, leading to a result whereby the
EPCEP is hard to achieve in real life. It is undeniable that the planet’s capacity
to absorb greenhouse-gas emissions is limited. If there actually is a level of
emissions which we think the planet can handle without unnecessary danger,
then emissions corresponding to that level ought to be shared out equally.
Everybody should have an equal slice of the planetary pie (Garvey, 2008).
However, practically this is unlikely to work out, due to the enormous divide
between developed countries and developing countries, global North and global
Exam Number: Y8195221
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South, rich and poor. Therefore, it is important to consider the real objections
behind the theoretical concepts of climate issues.
China was not involved in the past industrialization process thus the per capita
emissions were at that time lower than in the developed countries. It did not
exceed the average standard that each person has an entitlement to, that is, an
equal per capita allocation of carbon dioxide emissions (Neumayer, 2000). This
means that China should still have room to increase its emissions by as much
as 33% (Garvey, 2008). However this leads to concern from developed
countries such the US. “I will tell you one thing I’m not going to do is I’m not
going to let the United States carry the burden for cleaning up the world’s air,
like the Kyoto Treaty would have done. China and India were exempted from
that treaty” (George W. Bush, quoted by Singer, 2002, p. 30).
However, apart from the PPP and EPCEP, the concept of CBDR stated in the
Rio Declaration only works theoretically, being hard to apply in practice. Climate
change entered the international political arena in 1988, when the United
Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Office jointly set up
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 1990, the IPCC
reported that the threat of climate change was real, and a global treaty was
needed to deal with it. The United Nations General Assembly resolved to
proceed with such a treaty (Caney, 2005). In 1992, two years after the IPCC’s
first report, the world’s largest meeting in Rio de Janeiro, for what came to be
known as The Earth Summit, was held, coming up with an agreement called
‘The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’ (UNFCCC)
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which was signed and ratified by nearly 200 countries. The key features of the
UNFCCC include an acknowledgement of the fact that human beings have
played a tremendous role in climate change (Garvey, 2008) and that it is
necessary to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a
level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate
system (UNFCCC, 1992).
The concept of CBDR was expressed in the Rio Declaration: States shall
cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the
health and integrity of the Earth’s ecosystem. In view of the different
contributions to global environmental degradation, states have common but
differentiated responsibilities (UNEP, 1992). This idea suggested that it is
important for all states to cooperate and act together according to their capacity
in order to effectively solve the problem of climate change. It is crucial to
understand that climate change is an international issue, one which cannot be
solved by one or two countries or the developed nations alone. However, with
regard to the UNFCCC, there were suggestions that developed countries
should take the leading role in combating climate change and the adverse
effects thereof, while, at the same time, developing countries should promote a
sustainable level of economic growth and development by cooperating with
other countries (UNFCCC, 1992). In order to sufficiently address climate
change, the Kyoto Protocol was tabled at the third conference of the UNFCCC
in 1997. It was “guided by Article 3” of the UNFCCC and the CBDR principle
(Caney, 2005, p.138). The treaty recognizes that developed countries have
contributed the most to the anthropogenic build-up of carbon dioxide in the
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atmosphere; therefore they are the ones who should take the leading role in
climate change prevention. The Kyoto Protocol was enforced on 18 November
2004, after 55 Parties to the Convention had ratified it, including enough
industrialized countries – who have specific targets – to encompass 55% of that
group’s carbon dioxide emissions in 1990 (Gateway to the United Nations
Systems work on Climate Change, 1997). This was not the end, however, as
China, with its massive greenhouse gas emissions, did not form a binding
target, which led to some potential criticisms of the entire treaty. Also, the
tensions over implementation of the CBDR principle and North-South debates
have begun to grow, along with increasing alarm about future climate impact,
and the associated costs of mitigation and adaptation (Christoff, 2010).
According to recent publications, China overtook the US's CO2 emissions by
14% in 200, to become the world’s largest CO2 emitter, making up 24% of the
world’s total CO2 emissions (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency,
2008). In 2007, the IPCC reported that greenhouse-gas emissions from
developing countries will reach the levels of developed countries by 2015 or
2020, and emissions in developing countries, especially China, have been
growing at a much faster rate than in developed countries (IPCC, 2007). Also,
the fact that China and other developing countries are not Annex 1 countries
and have thus no emission reduction obligation has worried many parties (Mol
and Carter, 2006b). That said, the struggle between developed and developing
countries, especially between the US and China, has always existed in terms of
international negotiations.
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The engagement with climate problems reflects a broader contention regarding
strategies and methods that feature national economic strength, energy uses
and security, and future international political and economic leadership, which
cannot simply be solved by using the principles mentioned above. These
principles are all flawed in some way; they work theoretically but not practically,
not providing strong enough motivation for countries to take action. Whatever
the principles dictate, countries will act according to their own benefit. Before
investigating this in more detail, I will first evaluate the achievements of the
Chinese government in the realm of environmental protection. Despite these
principles listed above, China has done much more for environmental and
climate protection than commonly acknowledged.
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Chapter 3
Evaluation of the Chinese Government’s Role in
Environment Protection
Post-Kyoto Protocol
Apart from the above arguments of who should be held responsible for the
climate change, and the negative responses to the Chinese government’s
environmental performance on climate, throughout the past few decades, China
has worked extremely hard towards climate protection. This is especially
obvious in December 2005 when the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change Conference of the Parties meeting in Montreal took place,
focusing on a post-Kyoto Protocol. It became clear that China (and India and
Brazil) would become key players in these new rounds of negotiations. China
clearly indicated that discussions on post-Kyoto targets would no longer meet a
veto. In short, future environmental diplomacy concerning almost every
environmental issue will depend heavily on the role played by China. And China
is increasingly becoming aware of its shifting position in the arena of global
environmental politics (Mol and Carter, 2006b). However, China did not ratify
the Kyoto Protocol at the first time, although it cannot be said that it had no
incentives to ratify it. From the late 1980s until the Kyoto Protocol came into
existence, China’s policies on climate change reflected the government’s view
of climate change as a scientific issue, a topic introduced from abroad, and far
removed from the concerns of everyday life in China (Stensdal, 2012). In 2002,
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China ratified the Kyoto Protocol for a further extension of its positive
incentives. China created a new national economic development framework
with the concepts of sustainable development and a more scientific outlook.
China is adhering to a low-carbon development path and contributing to global
efforts in addressing climate change (Ma, 2011). It has now become the leading
country for projects of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), founding a
National Climate Change Programme and setting up the National Leading
Group on Climate Change with Premier Wen Jiabao as its Director in June
2007.
The 13th Conference of the Parties (COP13) was held in 2007, and the15th
Conference of the Parties (COP15) in 2009, the Chinese government reiterated
and detailed its support for the UNFCCC and the Bali Action Plan, declaring that
“the objective of the Copenhagen climate conference is to further enhance the
full, effective, sustained implementation of the UNFCCC and to reach positive
outcome, focusing on making concrete arrangements for mitigation, adaptation,
technology transfer and financial support” (PMPRC, 2009). Former President
Hu Jintao’s brief statement to the UN Climate Summit in September 2009
similarly emphasized that ‘fulfilling our respective responsibilities should be at
the core of our efforts (Hu, 2009).
Montreal Protocol
China had in fact actively engaged in climate protection long before the post-
Kyoto Protocol. Their involvement in the Montreal Protocol clearly showed
China’s positive participation in the international environmental treaty. The
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Montreal Protocol stipulates control measures and schedules so countries can
phase out the production and consumption of chemicals that destroy the ozone
layer. These chemicals, called ozone-depleting substances (ODS), include
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are used in the production of refrigerators,
foams, mobile air conditioning, aerosol sprays, and tobacco; halons, which are
used in fire-fighting; carbon tetrachloride (CTC) and methyl chloroform, which
are used as solvents in engineering and manufacturing operations; and methyl
bromide, which is used in agricultural pesticides and tobacco production (Zhao,
2005).
China has been the world’s leading consumer and producer of ODS since 1996,
with CFC 11, and CFC 12, and halon 1211 being the most prevalent (Zhao,
2005). Developed countries that were previously the major ODS producers and
consumers phased out major halons in 1994 and CFCs in 1996. Meanwhile,
during its “grace period” under the Protocol, China’s demand for ODS increased
due to rapid economic growth (Zhao, 2005). The reform and opening up policies
in China also led to an increased number of foreign-investment ventures.
According to a 1995 SEPA study, 30% of these were engaged in heavily
polluting industries (Pollution Control Department of SEPA, 2002) – including
ones involved in the production and consumption of ozone-depleting
substances (ODSs) whose manufacture and use were banned in the
industrialized world under the Montreal Protocol (Kroll and Robbins, 2009). The
Montreal Protocol established the Multilateral Fund in 1991 to provide financial
and technical assistance to Article 5 countries, which are defined as signatory
developing countries with an annual consumption of ODS lower than 0.3 kg per
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capita (Zhao, 2005). The Multilateral Fund for the implementation of the
Montreal Protocol stipulates eligibility requirements for countries who wish to
receive assistance, and also the formulation of a country program and a policy
framework for the implementation of the actual Protocol (MLF Secretariat,
2004).
China’s National Program for the Phasing out of Ozone Depleting Substances
under the Montreal Protocol was issued in 1993 and revised in 1998. It presents
China’s plans and measures from completing its commitments under the
Protocol (SEPA, 1993). The involvement of a Multilateral Fund, creation of an
institutional framework and a data reporting system for the Montreal Protocol
has helped China to form a new national administrative system, in order to
coordinate existing ministries who are working toward treaty compliance. The
leading organization is the National Leading Group for Ozone Layer Protection,
which is composed of 18 ministries and commissions and coordinated by
SEPA. The Leading Group makes decisions on China’s implementation of the
Protocol, but the decision to ratify amendments requires approval from the
State Council. The PMO coordinates with other government agencies that are
part of the Leading Group and is the agency responsible for implementing
policies and programs approved by the Leading Group (Zhao, 2005). The
Chinese government has formulated national policies and regulations in order
to limit ODS consumption and production in industrial enterprises. From 1998
onwards, China’s progress in ODS reduction accelerated and major ODS –
CFCs, halons, and CTCs – were greatly reduced by 2002, meeting the
Protocol’s goals to freeze the production and consumption of major halons and
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CFCs by 1998 and 1999, respectively. By the end of 2000, CFC production
decreased 33% compared to mid-1990s levels; this was due to the closure of
30 companies (SEPA, 2001). Until 2002, halon production and consumption
had been reduced by 84%, three years ahead of the 50% reduction targets set
for 2005. Fortunately, the actual CFC consumption and production levels in
1999 were about 26% and 5% below the Protocol targets (Zhao, 2005). In
2002, it was found that production and consumption of methyl bromide were 4%
and 1% lower than the targeted average levels from 1995 to 1998 (Zhao, 2005).
These positive consequences could refer to the effective nature of Chinese
environmental governance under the Montreal Protocol. This is reflected in the
Scientific Development Concept that the Chinese Communist Party followed as
its socio-economic development guideline, which relies upon: integrating
sustainable development, social welfare, a person-centred society, increased
democracy, and, ultimately, the creation of a harmonious society (Grano, 2008).
This concept is important because it can help China work towards building a
more harmonious society by aggressively acting on current climate change and
environmental challenges.
Five-Year Plan: The Environmental Performance Index
Apart from the Chinese government’s active engagements with international
climate protection treaties, over the past few decades, China has also formed a
Five-Year Plan for addressing environmental issues for the prevention of
climate change. The Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social
Development, or simply, the Five-Year Plan, aims to create more socially
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inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth, and boost domestic
consumption so that the Chinese economy begins can be re-orientate away
from heavy industry and resource-intensive production towards a more
consumption-base and resource-efficient economy (Townshend et al., 2013).
The 9th Five-Year Plan, and 10th Five-Year Plan formed by the Chinese
government drew huge attention regarding on the control of air pollution and
environmental degradation (Schroeder, 2008). Putting a stop to environmental
degradation and increasing energy efficiency has thus been promoted to the top
of the political agenda, culminating in the target of the 11th Five-Year Plan,
which is to reduce energy intensity by 20% by 2015 (Zhang, 2005). In the 10th
Five-Year Plan period alone, China put 700 billion yuan into six key forestry
programs including the “natural forest protection” and “grain for green” projects
(Deng Huaning, et al., 2005). The law for the promotion of renewable energies
came into force on 1st January 2006, and governmental institutions with
relevance for climate governance. For example, the former National
Environmental Protection Agency, were upgraded into the State Environmental
Protection Agency, which now enjoys ministerial status (Schroeder, 2008). In
the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), the Chinese government emphasized a
novel set of political instruments, such as binding agreements with provincial
governors and managers of major state-owned power companies, a modified
evaluation system for government officials, political and financial incentives,
performance audits, and stronger enforcement of existing laws by the central
government. The Chinese government has steadily pushed itself forward to
achieve sustainable development and prevent the long term effect of climate
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change.
China is a very interesting case because. It has developed so rapidly over the
last two decades and accordingly is suffering severe consequences.
Nonetheless, it has been the only country able to reverse the trend of growing
their economy alongside growing emissions and manage to cut emissions,
especially when compared to other BRIC countries: India, Brazil, and Russia
(Hsu Angel, 2014). Chinese authorities have recognized the urgency of climate
change and energy security and in 2011, the Chinese government launched the
12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), the greenest social and economic
development blueprint in China to date (National People’s Congress, 2011).
This is the first time that the Plan established clear targets to reduce carbon
intensity by 16% to 17% from 2004 baseline levels, with a longer-term goal of
lowering its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40%-45% by 2020
compared to the 2005 level (Miao, 2014). China has invested heavily in
renewable energy development and has been aggressively rolling out solar and
wind generation technologies (Miao, 2014), aiming to increase the share of non-
fossil fuel in primary energy consumption to around 15% by 2020 and increase
forest coverage by 40 million hectares and forest stock volume by 1.3 billion
cubic meters by 2020 from the 2005 levels (Su, 2010). China’s performance in
the Climate and Energy category demonstrates the tangible results of policies
implemented over the last few years that have helped to reduce energy and
carbon intensity in the country (Miao, 2014). These achievements prove that
China has a positive attitude towards the climate change is committed to
government missions on environment protection. In addition, China has also
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worked hard to increase air quality, especially in 2008, when Beijing organized
the 2008 Summer Olympic Games; this hugely helped environment protection.
The main goal of the Chinese government regarding this international event
was to hold a “Green Olympics”. Chinese environmental reform went through
profound dramatic changes during this period. Specific industrial pollution
control policy was enforced in 2008 in order to improve air quality, partly to
reduce air pollutants and partly as a role in long-term climate change
prevention. Power plants were required to reduce their emissions by 30% from
their levels in June 2008. This reduction was required even for plants that had
already met the Chinese emission standards. The Beijing municipal government
announced an “Air Quality Guarantee Plan for the 29th Olympic Games in
Beijing” and this improved air quality during that period (Cao, et al., 2013).
Wang et al (2010b) also found out that in June 2008, the daily emissions of
sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NOX), and particulate matter (PM10) in
Beijing totaled 103.9, 428.5, and 362.7 tons, respectively. During the Olympic
games, the daily emissions of SO2, NOX, and PM10 in Beijing were reduced to
61.6, 229.1 and 164.3 tons, that is, 41, 47, and 55% lower than the respective
June 2008 emission levels (Wang, et al., 2010). These improvements were a
positive sign and gave long-term direction for other Chinese cities.
Evidence shows that Beijing achieved more than what it committed to, in terms
of actual money spent and green coverage of the city (Wei, 2008). The
Government introduced state-of-the-art energy saving technologies - such as
solar hot water and geothermal and solar photovoltaic systems - in its Olympics
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venues, 20% of the electricity used in the Olympic venue during the Olympics
coming from clean wind sources. More than 3,700 buses ran on compressed
natural gas at the time of the Olympics - one of the largest fleets of this kind
operating in any city in the world - and by the end of 2008, Beijing had
upgraded 16,000 boilers under 20 tons and 44,000 boilers under 1 ton, and
converted 32,000 household heating systems from coal heating to electricity at
the same time (Wei, 2008). Olympic sponsors contributed to the vision of a
“Green Olympics” in various ways. All of Coca Cola’s 5,658 units including
Olympic coolers and vending machines used HFC-free natural refrigerants.
HFCs are among the major greenhouse gases targeted by the Kyoto Protocol
(Wei, 2008). The 2008 Olympic Games left an important environmental legacy
for Beijing in areas such as clean transportation infrastructure, energy
efficiency, renewable energy, water and waste treatment. The 10th Five-Year
Plan period also established SO2 emission targets for specific industrial sectors
in heavily polluting regions which helped to create better air quality and
environmental conditions.
To summarize, the government established an environmental policy framework
consisting of an array of environmental policies that were embedded in various
types of national laws and environmental goals described in the Five-Year
Plans (Cao, et al., 2013). These Five-Year Plans all to various degrees, helped
prevent climate change and showed a clear and positive indication of the
Chinese government’s environmental performance.
However, the 2014 Yale Environmental Performance Index (EPI) – a biennial
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global ranking of how well countries perform on a range of critical environmental
issues – ranked China at 118th out of 178 countries. With respect to other
emerging economies, with rapid growth and development, China did not fare as
well overall as Brazil (77th), Russia (73rd), or South Africa (72nd), but was
considerably ahead of India, which ranked 155th (Hsu and Miao, 2014). China is
a leader in addressing climate change and is taking corrective action to address
its weaknesses. Also, with the concern of climate change and an energy
intensity reduction target in place, following the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010)
and a carbon intensity target established in 2009, China performed better than
all other emerging economies (Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa) in
reducing its rate of carbon intensity growth (Hsu and Miao, 2014). Through top-
level commitment, China has demonstrated considerable influential leadership
in terms of meeting targets to reduce the carbon and energy intensity of its
economic growth. Gains in energy efficiency, achieved by eliminating inefficient
industrial production, and through the increase of renewable energy, are
measurable (Hsu, 2014).
China’s performance on the 2014 EPI may not come as a surprise to its
decision makers, who have demonstrated and continue to demonstrate
considerable attention and commitment to addressing environmental challenges
over the last decade, “…what is important to recognize are the gains China has
achieved, particularly on climate and energy, and that efforts are being made to
address areas of weakness” (Hsu and Miao, 2014). When evaluating the
Chinese government’s environmental performance, it is important to recognize
that the Chinese government and people are willing to work with the
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international community to respond to risks and challenges, share in
development opportunities, and make contributions to humanity’s lofty causes
of peace and development (Wen, 2011). China has strong incentives for
undertaking climate prevention, and as Wen Jiabao, former premier of the
Chinese State Council stated, China would effectively work to conserve
resources and protect the environment, and actively respond to climate change
(Wen, 2011). China will effectively strengthen its resource conservation and
management, and become better able to ensure adequate supplies of
resources, intensify the protection of farmland and the environment, strengthen
ecological development and systems to prevent and mitigate natural disasters,
and comprehensively build on the capacity for sustainable development (Wen,
2011). Therefore, it is incorrect for developed countries to negatively assess the
Chinese government’s environmental performance as China has achieved
some remarkably positive outcomes, working hard towards implementing
sustainable development.
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Chapter 4
‘Realism’ and Climate Change
As this dissertation mentioned in chapter one, anthropogenic climate change is
a global commons problem because its causes – man-made greenhouse gas
emissions – and its impact on human societies are distributed across the
boundaries and jurisdictions of individual states (Keohane et al 1994; Vogler
2011). Because of the cross-boundary impact of climate change, we are able to
answer the question of why China has participated in climate change
prevention. In the following section, I use realist theory to explain the Chinese
government’s original intensions for climate change prevention.
Realism is the dominant paradigm in the modern study of international relations,
principally because its insights into the regularity of interstate conflict are difficult
to refute when looking at the historical records (Habib, 2011). Realists see
sovereign states as the primary actors in an anarchic international system,
where there is no supreme authority to adjudicate the relations between states
(Mearsheimer, 2001). In the absence of a supreme authority, it is material
power and military strength that are decisive in shaping the pattern of interstate
relations (Habib, 2011). As a result, insecurity pervades the system and breeds
an ongoing struggle between states for power and survival (Frankel, 1996).
When placing environment issues such as climate change into the context of
realism, it is first important to recognize that climate change will cause severe
consequences to states, including damage to farmland and infrastructures. In
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traditional realist analysis, state power depends fundamentally on the natural
resources contained within a territorially delimited space (Morgenthau, 1978).
Climate change will redraw our coastlines, alter where we can grow food,
change where we can find water, expose us to fierce storms or more severe
droughts, and likely force large numbers of people to move from their
homelands (Lee, 2011). As realists assume that states are the primary actors in
the anarchic realm of international politics, they are restricted to seeing threats
only via the power maximization strategies of other states, thus damages to the
state caused by climate change will inevitably diminish state power, whilst
simultaneously increasing the relative powers of other states. This would create
a situation where states are fearful if they do not prevent climate change or
participate in environment protection.
Neo-realism, in addition, argues that in order to successfully address this global
problem - climate change - via complex paths of causality and geographically
diffuse impacts, the intensions are more favorable to international cooperation
rather than competition and power maximization; this is because traditional
realist self-help strategies do little to ameliorate the problem (Habib, 2011). The
issue here is not the contest of survival between states in the absence of a
higher power, but rather an alternation of the physical conditions in which this
contest takes place, impacting all players (Habib, 2011).
Secondly, climate change does not respect national boundaries, and China has
already suffered the severe consequences of climate change. The increase in
the global average surface temperature has caused huge impact on the
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Himalayas. As I mentioned in chapter one, glaciers melting in the Himalayas
could produce large-scale flooding and mudslides in such a mountainous area.
Also, the rising sea level is likely to result in higher tides and storm surges,
exacerbating coastal erosion for low-lying coastal locations. Shanghai’s rising
sea levels have greatly influenced human structures and vital infrastructure
such as ports and power states, and farmland (Cruz et al. 2007). China has
realized the damages that climate change has imposed on its population, which
leading to its active participations in climate protection.
Thirdly, Chinese governments have noted that climate policy could yield co-
benefits in the control of local pollution, that is, by reducing emissions of sulfur,
nitrogen and particulate matter pollution (SOx, NOx, and PM). Climate policy to
reduce GHG emissions could simultaneously deliver important improvements in
public health (Streets, 2005; Teng and Gu, 2007). From a realist perspective, it
is in the interest of the Chinese government to put a high priority on reducing
pollution, under the rubric of Hu Jintao’s official principles of a harmonious
society and the ‘scientific concept of development” (Zheng, 2005). Along with
other factors, which have also motivated China’s leaders to engage in climate
prevention, (for example, power, both internal and external) there is reflected in
China’s doctrine reflects a peaceful and positive rise to great power status;
prosperity, economic growth through a market economy, and long-term stability
and durability for the Chinese regime; and so on (Wiener, 2008).
Fourthly, China is highly concerned about its domestic political stability. Any
likelihood of political instability occurring within the state should be avoided. As
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Elizabeth Economy writes:
“In the view of China’s leaders … damage to the environment itself is
secondary problem. Of greater concern to them are its indirect effects:
the threat it poses the continuation of the Chinese economic miracle and
to public health, and the country’s international reputation. Taken
together, these challenges could undermine the authority of the
communist Party … the Chinese leadership’s greatest fear is, namely,
that its failure to protect the environment may someday serve as the
catalyst for broad-based demands for political change” (Economy, 2007;
The Economist, 2008).
China’s leaders considered that climate change would bring about political
upheaval, because the tensions within China, that is, between urban and rural,
rich and poor, alongside explosive economic growth offset by the costs of
pollution, all have the potential to stimulate the public in confronting China’s
leaders in the environmental arena (Wiener, 2008). This is because climate
change would both cause damage to human health and economic growth, and
because such damage will make distributional tensions more acute, risk
sparking political upheaval, and destabilize the domestic society (Wiener,
2008). The more damage that climate change creates, the more acute the
tensions will be thus the more likely it is that political upheaval will occur. The
increasing frequency and severity of climate change impacts, along with any
economic downturn that they may bring many foreshadow further civil
disturbances in the future and the weakening of Chinese Communist Party
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control (Habib, 2011).
Fifthly, the design of the international climate treaty regime itself should offer
positive incentives to China (Wiener, 2008). International climate treaties would
not only improve its reputation of Chinese governments, but also would help
China improve its technologies. As China gradually becomes a global
superpower, the Chinese government is willing to participate in other problem
areas in order to take on greater responsibility. This outlook can be understood
as part of a realist national interest in fostering interdependencies and
reciprocities that will ultimately benefit China (Wiener, 2008). When China,
adopted the Bali Action Plan, it illustrated that China is willing to take more
responsibility for climate protection, showing a great interest to take a
leadership role on global environmental issues. Apart from that, technological
change is also improving the availability of effective options such as carbon
capture and storage (CCS) methods (Wiener, 2008). Such technological
innovation has in the past mainly occurred in developed countries, but since
China has actively engaged in the international treaty, such methods have now
become available in China (Gu and Ake-Lundvall, 2006). Subsequent benefits
were brought to China through international co-operation which motivated
China to take on a more active role.
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Conclusion
Since its “reform and opening up”, China has generated a miraculously fast
level of economic growth, and is also known for its severe air pollution and a
range of other environmental problems. Likewise, its problems in providing key
public services, including basic healthcare, universal public education, and
social security, continue to draw both national and international criticism (Wu, et
al., 2013). It has been suggested China should not delay taking a larger role in
world environmental affairs, as it has contributed to the world’s major
greenhouse gas emissions and is a key player in energy consumption and
production. However, China has contributed hugely to climate protection. The
changing of the environmental management system, the creation of Five-Year
Plans and increasing international environmental cooperation are China’s most
important, under acknowledged achievements. Changes to the environmental
management system in China was influenced by governance reforms, which
focused on enhancing the efficiency, transparency, and fairness of the
administrative state, strengthening the regulatory apparatuses, removing
various institutional incentives and loopholes for corrupt practices, and
improving the environment for business (Yang, 2004, p.291).
The evidence this dissertation has gathered shows that on the one hand, China
has become an important leader in promoting environmental dialogues with
other countries (Grano, 2008) and has gradually shaped the frameworks of
international environmental governance. On the other hand, it has followed the
concept of sustainable development and taken a scientific outlook in its
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domestic sphere. China has been inspired by the idea that we all share one
planet; a complicated and living being where interdependencies among
countries are important and in which, episodes taking place in one area have a
huge impact on another. Neither pollution nor wildlife respect international
boundaries, action to mitigate or conserve sometimes has to involve more than
one state (Lee, 2011). Nonetheless, these perspectives are embedded in
China’s own self-interest, and that is reflected in realist thought as shown in
chapter four. Therefore, China’s contributions to environmental protection and
climate change prevention will not only benefit present but also future Chinese
generations but (it must be recognized) will benefit other human beings in the
world for a long-term period.
Furthermore, the debate between North and South is very complex, and the
emergence on the world economic scene of, in particular, China, has rekindled
the debate on who is to blame and who is to pay for the issue of climate
change. Neither the PPP nor the EPCEP suggest China should be held
responsible for it, although, in some way, the CBDR has highlighted China’s
responsibilities regarding emissions reductions, but with the lack of a clear
structure and binding target, making it ineffective and inapplicable to real life
situations.
Despite the negative international responses to the Chinese government’s
environmental performance and hardly applicable principles listed in Chapter
two, China has in fact played a huge role in climate change prevention, both
internationally and domestically. China reformed its environmental governance
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and actively created and implemented domestic environmental policies,
contributing hugely to climate change prevention. China has tried to find
connections between the areas of economic development, sustainable
development and climate change. The Chinese government is trying to develop
economics while at the same time prevent climate change. The Chinese
government follows the concept of scientific outlook, as it attempted to achieve
its leadership on international affairs by not losing benefits and gaining a
reputation at the same time.
International realist theory also convincingly demonstrates Chinese incentives
to participate in international climate cooperation by forming international
environmental treaties in order to develop sustainably. This is not only because
climate change has caused severe consequences for China, but also because
effective international climate cooperation was able to provide opportunities for
countries to discuss the implementation of new energy technologies and energy
efficiency measures. Furthermore, there are increasing chances for China to
play a strategic role in decision-making about investments abroad and
international trade. This undoubtedly fits the purpose of the Chinese
government in looking after its self-interest, but it also helps China to avoid
future energy shortages and climate change that may lead to negative results.
China is facing an unprecedented challenge in terms of domestic and
international development, and the environment, for which no mature
experience and ready models are available. To pursue sustainable
development with Chinese characteristics is a process of continued learning,
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practice, adjustment and innovation, which needs the broad and effective
participation of relevant stakeholders (Wang, 2012). China has effectively
balanced the often difficult relationship between political/economic needs with
environmental protection, and we should applaud China for what it has done –
both in the past and in its optimistic belief for its future role, which it will play out
against international environmental protections.
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