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.