china's surprising carbon emission reduction
Post on 15-Apr-2017
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China's Surprising
Carbon Emission Reduction
China. The sleepingdragon formerly
refused to rear itshead in
acknowledgement ofpollution, yet now
that multiplemetropolises are
drowning in a thicksmog it has been
forced to change itstune. In fact,
according to LSE,there are 4,000
recorded deathsevery day associated
with the pervasivecontamination that
is now a part ofeveryday life in
China.
Yet, there may begood news on the
horizon. Manyexperts believe thatChina may have justreached their peakyear in emissions,
meaning that for nowon, theoretically,
their carbonemissions should
continue to decline.
Believe it or not, thisactually comes ahead oftime. China is, perhaps
unsurprisingly, the largestcontributor to carbon
emissions and byextension climate changeon the planet. Initially at
the Climate ChangeConference in Paris this
past year, China pledged topeak in emissions and
begin fossil fuel reductionby 2025. Yet here we are,nearly a decade earlier,
and China already appearsto be achieving its goal.
Of course, this is not necessarily wholly China’s choice either. Their economyhas slowed significantly, which is potentially part of the reason for the
reduction. Between 2000 and 2010, the former agrarian nation boasted a GDPgrowth of an impressive 10.5 percent per year. It is projected to reach 6.5% this
year, a radical difference from what it was last decade. At the turn of themillennium, China cultivated both heavy industry and rapid technologicalinnovation which successfully spurred and continued what is now globally
renowned economic growth. However, now that the economy’s growth is slowingdown without the nation’s consent, the gasses associated with such rapid
industrialization are slowing down as well.
This is not to discredit China’s green energy conversionentirely. They certainly have made an effort to convert
their booming business into a more eco-friendly economicmodel. In fact, just two years ago the massive nation built
22 gigawatts of hydroelectric capacity, 21 gigawatts of windpower, 11 gigawatts of solar power, and over five gigawatts
of nuclear power. For context, at 59 gigawatts ofalternative energy capacity, China essentially rebuilt apower grid that could power Australia. Impressively, the
Asian superpower actually attributes 11.2% of its totalenergy consumption in 2014 to being entirely free of any
fossil fuels whatsoever.
Some speculate that perhaps currently developing nations will replaceChina at the helm of massive pollution. That booming countries like
India for instance, who by the way has never made any promise to cutcarbon emission, will begin polluting the atmosphere at the same rate
China did previously in an effort to bolster its own developingeconomy. Luckily however, at the former UN Climate Change
Conference in Paris, all countries, developing and developed, agreed toreview their carbon emission policies every five years.
In an ideal world, thisactually happens and all
countries actually do reviewtheir climate change
policies every five years.Even more impressive is ifanything actually resultsfrom these future reviews,considering any pollutionreduction is likely to be at
odds with economic growth,at least temporarily.
Needless to say, politiciansin any country are generallyagainst that which hinderseconomic growth, so it willbe interesting to see where
the future takes us.
In an ideal world, this actuallyhappens and all countries
actually do review theirclimate change policies every
five years. Even moreimpressive is if anything
actually results from thesefuture reviews, consideringany pollution reduction is
likely to be at odds witheconomic growth, at least
temporarily. Needless to say,politicians in any country aregenerally against that which
hinders economic growth, so itwill be interesting to see
where the future takes us.
While of course China’s reduction in emissions isfantastic news, it is only the first step in meaningful,
noticeable, environmental responsibility. As of now, theice caps continue to melt. Sea-levels continue to rise,and disastrous consequences continue to approach.
However, what can be said, is that we all finally seem tobe playing for the same team. I’ll take it, and so should
you considering where we were ten short years ago.
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