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China’s energy reform and climate policy: The ideas motivating change

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  • Boyd, Olivia T.

Abstract

China has embarked on an ambitious and unprecedented programme of energy reform and climate change mitigation. Yet the motivations for this important shift remain unclear. This paper surveys key central government documents and articles by China’s leading energy academics to investigate the ideas influencing China’s new energy and climate policies. Three key ideas in particular are supportive of greater climate mitigation than in the past. First, domestic energy security concerns have risen on the central government agenda as a result of electricity shortages and rapidly rising energy consumption. Such concerns have deeply influenced China’s ambitious and largely successful energy efficiency policies. Second, growing awareness of the environmental constraints on economic growth in general, and the potential damages of dangerous climate change in particular, has prompted stronger official rhetoric in favour of green development. The appearance of targets and policies that specifically target carbon emissions reductions in the 12th FYP for the first time suggests that climate change mitigation is becoming a motivation for policy action in its own right, rather than simply a co-benefit of policies enacted for other purposes. Third, a conviction that the world is moving towards low-carbon energy forms has given rise to the belief that China must become a technological and economic leader in this transition. Large levels of public financing to support the development of China’s wind power and solar PV sectors suggests that the Chinese government has strong vested interests in seeing China successfully compete and lead in global low-carbon energy markets. In order to understand the shift in China’s approach to climate change since the 11th FYP, it is important to understand how new ideas such as these have reframed and reshaped the Chinese government’s interests and objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Boyd, Olivia T., 2012. "China’s energy reform and climate policy: The ideas motivating change," Working Papers 249396, Australian National University, Centre for Climate Economics & Policy.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:ancewp:249396
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.249396
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    Cited by:

    1. Yingying Lu & David I. Stern, 2016. "Substitutability and the Cost of Climate Mitigation Policy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 64(1), pages 81-107, May.
    2. Jotzo, Frank, 2013. "Emissions trading in China: Principles, design options and lessons from international practice," Working Papers 249405, Australian National University, Centre for Climate Economics & Policy.
    3. Bilgili, Faik & Mugaloglu, Erhan & Koçak, Emrah, 2018. "The impact of oil prices on CO2 emissions in China: A Wavelet coherence approach," MPRA Paper 90170, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Dobes Leo & Jotzo Frank & Stern David I., 2014. "The Economics of Global Climate Change: A Historical Literature Review," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 65(3), pages 281-320, December.
    5. Zifang Ding & Xiang Gao & Xuesong Qian & Huanhuan Wang, 2022. "Governmental inspection and local legislation on environmental protection: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 728-763, July.
    6. Yongsheng Zhang, 2015. "Reformulating the low-carbon green growth strategy in China," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(sup1), pages 40-59, December.
    7. Yu Liu & Meifang Zhou, 2018. "The Impact Of Coal Resource Tax Reform On The Chinese Economy: A Cge Analysis," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 63(03), pages 555-565, June.
    8. Rui Yang & Yingwen Chen & Yiqun Liu & Yuchen Feng & Jianwan Ji & Christina W. Y. Wong & Xin Miao & Yanhong Tang, 2023. "Government–business relations, environmental information transparency, and Hu-line-related factors in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 7215-7238, July.
    9. Zheng, Siqi & Kahn, Matthew E. & Sun, Weizeng & Luo, Danglun, 2014. "Incentives for China's urban mayors to mitigate pollution externalities: The role of the central government and public environmentalism," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 61-71.
    10. Zhang, Sufang & Andrews-Speed, Philip & Zhao, Xiaoli & He, Yongxiu, 2013. "Interactions between renewable energy policy and renewable energy industrial policy: A critical analysis of China's policy approach to renewable energies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 342-353.
    11. Siqi Zheng & Matthew E. Kahn & Weizeng Sun & Danglun Luo, 2013. "Incentivizing China's Urban Mayors to Mitigate Pollution Externalities: The Role of the Central Government and Public Environmentalism," NBER Working Papers 18872, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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