Climate Change: National and Local Policy Opportunities in China

In August 2006, the SEPA, National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC), NDRC and Office of National Energy Leading Group (ONELG) published the communiqué of energy intensity and major pollutants in the first half of 2006. [...] At local level, the finance disparities between west and east make the reduction target more difficult for local government in the west region since the energy intensity reduction and environment protection target also means a heavy investment in the renovation of existing facilities and new investment in energy sectors. [...] The main guidance of Sub-plan on Energy Development and Energy Mix Readjustment (Sub-plan on EDEMR) [12] includes readjustment of the primary energy structure in “a cost-effective manner in the fuel switch from coal-dominance to more shares of clean energy”, restructure the industrial and product structure to reduce the growth rate of energy consumption and improve the energy efficiency by promoti. [...] The public awareness and the efforts of the whole society is extremely important to achieve the target of energy saving and pollutant control. [...] In local level, the local government is only not the policymaker of local regulations and guidelines but also a messenger to keep the local citizens aware of the challenge of energy and environmental problems.