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Making China the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy: Key Challenges and Responses

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  • Zhang, ZhongXiang

Abstract

China has realized that for its own sake and from the international community’s perspective, it cannot afford to continue along the conventional path of encouraging economic growth at the expense of the environment. Accordingly, the country has placed ecological goals at the same level of priority as policies on economic, political, cultural and social development. Specifically, to meet the grand goal involves not only capping China’s nationwide coal consumption to let it peak before 2020 and carbon emissions peak around 2030, but also putting in place a variety of flagship programs and initiatives, prices and policies. This paper argues that the 2030 carbon emissions peak goal is ambitious but achievable and concludes by arguing why China’s anti-pollution outcomes this time might be different from the previous ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2016. "Making China the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy: Key Challenges and Responses," Climate Change and Sustainable Development 230603, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:feemcl:230603
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.230603
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    2. ZhongXiang Zhang, 2011. "Assessing China’s carbon intensity pledge for 2020: stringency and credibility issues and their implications," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 13(3), pages 219-235, September.
    3. Can Wang & Yuan Yang & Junjie Zhang, 2015. "China's sectoral strategies in energy conservation and carbon mitigation," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(sup1), pages 60-80, December.
    4. Zhongxiang Zhang, 2011. "In what format and under what timeframe would China take on climate commitments? A roadmap to 2050," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 245-259, September.
    5. Zhang, Zhong-Xiang, 2007. "China is moving away the pattern of "develop first and then treat the pollution"," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3547-3549, July.
    6. ZhongXiang Zhang, 2014. "Energy Prices, Subsidies and Resource Tax Reform in China," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(3), pages 439-454, September.
    7. ZhongXiang Zhang, 2014. "Programs, Prices and Policies Towards Energy Conservation and Environmental Quality in China," CCEP Working Papers 1407, Centre for Climate & Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wei Wu & Boqiang Lin, 2020. "Reducing Overcapacity in China’s Coal Industry: A Real Option Approach," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 55(4), pages 1073-1093, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental Economics and Policy;

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • P28 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Natural Resources; Environment
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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