IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ieaple/v21y2021i1d10.1007_s10784-021-09528-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

China’s climate and energy policy: at a turning point?

Author

Listed:
  • Gørild M. Heggelund

    (The Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI))

Abstract

How have 30 years of development in energy and climate policies influenced long-term trends in China and what does this imply for future climate policies? To answer the question, this article examines three decades of energy and climate policies in China. By providing an overarching review, it contributes new and updated research on drivers behind long-term climate policies and whether China’s long-term emissions trend can be broken by placing greater emphasis on innovation, technology and low-carbon development. Importantly, it analyses the most recent policy developments in China, such as the likely effects of China’s recent 2060 carbon neutrality goal. We conclude that after the Paris Agreement, the biggest policy change has been technological innovation in the power and transport sector. China has prioritized measures, laws and policies for developing renewable energy, especially solar and wind. China has also embraced the ‘green growth’ approach for responding to the challenges of climate change. These efforts have yielded results, and China has emerged as a world leader in renewable energy. However, there is still a long way to go. The upcoming 14th five-year plan will be critical for accelerating the energy transition, including setting a cap on coal in the national energy-transition strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Gørild M. Heggelund, 2021. "China’s climate and energy policy: at a turning point?," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 9-23, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ieaple:v:21:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10784-021-09528-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10784-021-09528-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10784-021-09528-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10784-021-09528-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gørild Heggelund & Iselin Stensdal & Maosheng Duan & Jørgen Wettestad, 2019. "China’s Development of ETS as a GHG Mitigating Policy Tool: A Case of Policy Diffusion or Domestic Drivers?," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 36(2), pages 168-194, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhao, Xiaochun & Jiang, Mei & Wu, Zijun & Zhou, Ying, 2023. "Quantitative evaluation of China's energy security policy under the background of intensifying geopolitical conflicts: Based on PMC model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    2. Quan Tran & Thao Tran & Duc Hong Vo, 2022. "Environmental regulation stringency and foreign direct investment," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 474-493, September.
    3. Iselin Stensdal & Gørild Heggelund, 2023. "Changes in China’s climate justice perceptions: domestic and international consequences," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 459-480, September.
    4. Meng, Ming & Li, Xinxin, 2022. "Evaluating the direct rebound effect of electricity consumption: An empirical analysis of the provincial level in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).
    5. Yingqi Wei & Sasa Ding & Ziko Konwar, 2022. "The two faces of FDI in environmental performance: a meta-analysis of empirical evidence in China," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 65-94, January.
    6. Li, Jianling & Zhao, Ziwen & Xu, Dan & Li, Peiquan & Liu, Yong & Mahmud, Md Apel & Chen, Diyi, 2023. "The potential assessment of pump hydro energy storage to reduce renewable curtailment and CO2 emissions in Northwest China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 82-96.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gørild Heggelund & Iselin Stensdal & Maosheng Duan, 2022. "China’s Carbon Market: Potential for Success?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(1), pages 265-274.
    2. Jon Birger Skjærseth & Steinar Andresen & Guri Bang & Gørild M. Heggelund, 2021. "The Paris agreement and key actors’ domestic climate policy mixes: comparative patterns," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 59-73, March.
    3. Fan, Wei & Li, Li & Wang, Feiran & Li, Ding, 2020. "Driving factors of CO2 emission inequality in China: The role of government expenditure," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    4. Evan M. Mistur & John Wagner Givens & Daniel C. Matisoff, 2023. "Contagious COVID‐19 policies: Policy diffusion during times of crisis," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(1), pages 36-62, January.
    5. Iselin Stensdal & Gørild Heggelund, 2023. "Changes in China’s climate justice perceptions: domestic and international consequences," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 459-480, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ieaple:v:21:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s10784-021-09528-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.