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Exam Number: Y8195221 1 UNIVERSITY OF YORK How effective is the Chinese government in protecting the environment? BA Politics with International Relations Dissertation May 2014 Dissertation Word Count: 9958 Exam Number: Y8195221

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UNIVERSITY OF YORK

How effective is the Chinese government in protecting

the environment?

BA Politics with International Relations

Dissertation

May 2014

Dissertation Word Count: 9958

Exam Number: Y8195221

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Abstract

It has been widely recognized that environmental protection is a global issue

and developing countries are making increasingly significant contributions to

global environmental problems (Zhao, 2005). In the face of unprecedented

economic and industrial growth levels, China is rapidly developing its system of

environmental governance, and has contributed significantly to environment

and climate change protections. This dissertation aims to assess the damages

of climate change, investigate the philosophical understandings of who should

be held responsible for the climate change, evaluate the transformations in

China’s environmental governance, and consider the realistic incentives behind

its actions. Despite the negative international responses to the Chinese

government’s environmental performance, China has actually contributed

substantially towards climate protection. This is because, on the one hand,

China itself has experienced severe climate change consequences, while, on

the other hand, it has been stimulated by the benefit of participation. Therefore

new relations between the environment and the state, plus an opening up

towards the outside are characterizing a new mode of environmental

governance that in turn is allowing China to develop in more sustainable

directions.

178 words

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“We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our

Children.”

Ancient Indian proverb

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Content

Abstract 2

Foreword 3

Content 4

Introduction 5

Chapter 1: The Impact of Climate Change 11

Chapter 2: Negative Responses to the Chinese

Government’s Environmental Performance 18

Chapter 3: Evaluation of the Chinese Government’s Role in

Environment Protection 27

Chapter 4: ‘Realism’ and Climate Change 38

Conclusion 43

Bibliography 47

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Introduction

The environment is undergoing dramatic and rapid changes. Most notably, the

earth has become markedly warmer, often involving droughts, floods,

earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and rising sea levels (McNeill, 2008). In

addition to these problems, the climate has become increasingly unpredictable.

This has importance consequences for human life. (Caney, 2005). Climate

change and environmental problems are also no longer perceived as localized

concerns, affecting relatively few people with few long-term effects (Garner,

1996) – instead, they have become a global problem. Human beings are not

only being affected by climate change but also themselves influence the

environment, which may lead to further climate change through a host of

manmade activities, for example: producing and consuming ozone depletion

substances, burning fossil fuels which create massive greenhouse gas

emissions, unlimited extraction of non-renewable resources, and using

chemical substances which effect natural lands and ecological systems.

Human activities cause climate change and this is not only damaging specific

countries but also affecting other countries’ ecosystems. For example, China’s

lands are increasingly affected by the phenomenon of desertification (Brown,

2002). Increasing frequent dust storms are affecting Beijing (which is

experiencing more than 25 storms a year) and the area situated north of the

Yangtze River (Grano, 2008). This has also become an international

environmental problem because these storms often reach as far as Korea,

Japan and even the US, with lethal effects on human health when these dust

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particles are inhaled (US, 2002). Furthermore, in December 2005, a chemical

company spilled thousands of tons of benzene into the Songhua River, creating

an international incident that not only affected the Songhua River, and the

drinking water supply of millions of Chinese, but also threatened downstream

cities in Russia (Stalley, 2009). Therefore since many of the negative effects of

global production are not confined within national boundaries but spill over to

affect other parts of the world, the seriousness of global environmental

problems associated with industrial production and other economic activities

have become all too clear (Braithwaite and Drahos, 2000).

China has been witnessing an unprecedented period of continuous high

economic growth during the last 15 years. It started to experience a process of

modernization and transition beginning in the mid-1980s, and started to

accelerate and mature in the early 1990s, showing average national economic

growth percentages of around 9% and more (Mol and Carter, 2006a). The

increasing economic openness of China to the global market, led to an

unprecedented increase in international trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and

produced a massive amount of international Chinese travelers. In the face of

these extraordinary economic and social developments, China has rapidly

begun developing and perfecting its own system of environmental governance.

This dissertation aims to understand and assess the direction, extent and speed

of change in China’s environmental governance - exploring the philosophical

understandings of climate change in relation to China, and the relationship

between Chinese central government and local authorities. This dissertation will

also evaluate the connections between international pressures and government

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performance, and through the use of international relations theory, investigate

the reasons why China is involved in climate prevention, both domestically and

internationally.

The argument in this dissertation is that despite international responses to the

Chinese government performance often being negative, China has been, and

continues to work hard to create a new mode of environmental governance -

even during times where it has not been legally bound by international

agreements - directing China to develop in a more sustainable direction.

The reason why China has been chosen as the focus of this study is because it

is an interesting case, for no developing country in economic history – other

than post-Mao China – has cut its energy-related greenhouse gas emissions’

growth so deeply and for so long (William and Wang, 2009). Also, as a fast

growing and developing country, China is facing a lot of environmental issues,

which has inspired me to investigate further. This dissertation not only focuses

on the issue of climate change but also offers an analysis of Chinese

environmental policies in general, as environmental policies and climate policies

are explicitly interconnected with each other.

In order to evaluate how the Chinese government deals with climate change,

and the successes, failures and dilemmas of the environmental challenges it

faces, we are in need of much more detailed analyses and insights into various

Chinese environmental policy developments and social practices. By achieving

this aim, this dissertation utilizes a range of research, demonstrating the validity

of the aforementioned arguments. This paper uses a wide range of literature to

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examine the responses of the Chinese government to climate change issues,

including policies, academic journals, and newspaper articles. By integrating

international relations theory, realism, and philosophical arguments, a more

precise theoretical and philosophical understanding of Chinese government

incentives can be acknowledged.

This dissertation has four chapters. Chapter one will first demonstrate the

impact of climate change on the earth. Simultaneously, it will demonstrate how

China has suffered from environmental damage and climate change, and also

illustrate what impact of Chinese economic development has had on the

environment.

In chapter two, the dissertation will illustrate that international coverage of the

environmental policies on climate change of the developed countries is often

unfairly negative about the response of the Chinese government. This will be

demonstrated via a discussion of critics who have opposed China in recent

COPs. In addition to this, I will also clarify the theoretical concepts of the

Polluter Pays Principle (PPP), the Equal Per Capita Emissions Principle

(EPCEP) and the concepts of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities

(CBDR) on the issue of climate change, in order to indicate they are hard to be

applied in practice.

Despite the negative responses of developed countries to the Chinese

government’s performance on climate change prevention, Chapter three will

demonstrate a number of notable achievements on climate protection, made by

the Chinese government, both domestically and internationally. The

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government was actively engaged in the post-Kyoto Protocol, the Montreal

Protocol, and has effectively addressed climate issues using the domestic Five

Year Plan over the past few decades, hugely and positively contributing to

international emissions targets. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI)

also shows how well the Chinese government has performed when facing

environmental challenges.

Following chapter three, the final chapter will argue that China is a classic case

for investigating tensions between national net benefits and environmental

protection. The international relations theory – realism - explains the reason

why China is trying to create a new mode of environmental governance, and

develop in a sustainable way, giving us a better understanding of the Chinese

government’s incentives on climate protection. There are five reasons for this:

first, climate change will cause huge damage to farmland and infrastructures,

therefore diminishing state power. This negative consequence has driven state

to participate actively in the climate prevention. Second, in response to

questions posed in chapter one, the Chinese government has discovered the

necessity of creating a climate policy, as recent climate science indicates

damage to China from climate change. Third, the public health co-benefits of

reducing other air pollutants, along with greenhouse gases (GHGs), may have

helped create the GHG emission limits that motivated China to participate.

Fourth, the Chinese government fears that climate change may exacerbate

political and social stresses within China, which the leadership may seek to

avoid in order to maintain political stability. Finally, the design of the

international climate treaty regime itself is likely to offer positive incentives to

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China (Wiener, 2008).

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Chapter 1

The Impact of Climate Change

Early interest in the political implications of environmental degradation stemmed

from an appreciation that human societies were bounded by ecological limits,

the breaching of which could lead to socio-economic catastrophes (Erlich 1971;

Hardin 1968; Meadows et al. 1972; Brown 1977; Catton 1982). It is important to

notice that the earth has frequently suffered from climate change; and it has not

only damaged human life but also influenced other species on earth. Agriculture

and food become under threat when climate change occurs, and this negatively

influences the activities of human development. On the supply side, the erosion

of arable land stock is likely to decrease agricultural production, as will an

increasing incidence of agricultural pests and disease (Habib, 2011). Rising

average temperatures are predicted to depress crop yield across regions, with

grain crops particularly susceptible to climate variation (Cruz et al, 2007). In

China, the agriculture-pasture land transition signifies that a climate zone

boundary is being pushed southward, decreasing the stock of arable farmland

and leaving new grassland areas vulnerable to desertification in combination

with human-induced degradation (Chen and Tang, 2005). The increasing

temperature is directly affecting crops by changing precipitation patterns, length

of growing season, intensity and timing of extreme weather events (Habib,

2011).

Climate change directly affects hydrology and water sources. According to

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World Bank estimates, 480 million Chinese, almost 40% of the population, are

currently living in regions facing water scarcity (Yardley, 2007). The occurrence

of droughts in China, as shown by the United Nations and the World Bank

Predict, will continue to increase in severity over the next 50 years (Lai, 2009).

The global average surface temperature has also increased by 0.3–0.6 degrees

Celsius since the 19th century, while the average increase in China within the

same time period is 0.5–0.8 degree Celsius. This rapid change in temperature

has had a direct and profound impact on the Himalayan Mountain region (Lai,

2009), while projections show that a temperature rise of 4 degrees Celsius

could trigger rapid melting of glaciers on a global scale. The shrinking of these

could lead to: flooding from glacial lakes into the upper reaches of the Yangtze

River, and a lower volume of water in the Yangtze’s downstream areas (Lai,

2009). Glaciers melting in the Himalayas could lead to the overflow of 200

glacial lakes and produce large-scale flooding and mudslides in mountainous

areas. In a particularly devastating example, on 10 June 2004, rapid landslides

and massive flooding from the River Yi’ong Zangbo in the Tibetan Plateau

destroyed approximately 10 bridges, 50 miles of high way and hundreds of

homes in Tibet (Lai, 2009).

The melting of glaciers, thermal expansion of warming oceans, along with

tectonic movement, local ground subsidence in coastal areas and rising sea

levels, also subsequently threaten countries’ coastal areas (Habib, 2011). Low-

lying coastal areas will be increasingly vulnerable to resultant higher tides and

storm surges, exacerbating coastal erosion (Habib, 2011). For example, global

warming has already had a direct impact on China’s coastal areas, including

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Shanghai. Shanghai is located in a low-lying area near the mouth of the

Yangtze River, with a relatively lower land level, making it inherently vulnerable

to rising sea levels. This has created a huge risk for populations in the region.

Apart from the threats listed above, the IPCC also forecasts numerous human

health issues resulting directly and indirectly from climate change (Habib, 2011).

These would involve a growing incidence of hunger as food insecurity grows, a

higher incidence of heat stress during the heat wave events, and higher

exposure of human populations to tropical disease vectors, as the climate

becomes more favorable for their northward expansion (Habib, 2011). Warmer

winter temperatures across regions may also increase the prevalence of vector-

borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and schistosomiasis, due to the

more favorable breeding conditions of a warmer and more humid climate for

insect vectors (Cruz et al., 2007). Anthropogenic climate change is a global

commons problem due to its causes – man-made greenhouse gas emissions –

and its impact on human societies is distributed across the boundaries and

jurisdictions of individual states (Keohane et al 1994; Vogler 2011). Therefore

such health threats would spread out from one country to another regardless of

state boundaries, meaning that environmental issues are not a single nation’s

problem but rather a global problem.

However, in China, climate change was not paid much attention before the

1970s. Neither imperial nor Maoist China avoided environmental degradation

(Shapiro, 2001). The Chinese government received many negative responses

from developed countries about its climate prevention performance. From 1958

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to 1960, the Great Leap Forward had left serious negative environmental

legacies because of the Maoist negligence of nature. The process can be partly

explained by the utopian urgency that had rapidly advanced industrialization

and agricultural production in China, and partly by the communist credo stating

that environmental problems are the creation of capitalist countries and are

therefore, by definition, nonexistent in China (Ross 1988, 8; Harris, 2009).

Throughout time, the rapid economic and industrial modernization and

development happening in China, ushered in a new phase of continuous

environmental pressure (Mol and Carter, 2006a). In 1979, when Deng Xiaoping

announced China’s ‘open door’ policy, there was a dramatic increase in

business numbers and living standards for several hundred millions of people

(Heggelund, Andresen and Buan, 2010). China’s gross domestic product (GDP)

per capita (PPP) reached US$6,000 in 2008 (CIA, 2009). This policy resulted in

a huge acceleration of economic development and has been become the

general guideline for all policies in China (Stensdal, 2012). China as a

developing country, with the world’s largest population, highlighted economic

growth and poverty alleviation as its mainstream agenda and paramount aim.

Compared with the previous Maoist Great Leap Forward, this opening policy

mainly focused on resource-intensive economic growth, which did however lead

to a doubling of energy demand, in comparison with the economic growth in the

period 1947-1979 (Levine, 1999). As a consequence, this massive economic

growth has had tremendous side effects in terms of environmental degradation,

including ozone-depletion, weak resource management leading to unlimited

natural non-renewable resources extraction, the burning of fossil fuels and

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subsequent massive greenhouse gas emissions, exceeding the absorption

capacity of the atmosphere. With a population of nearly 1.3 billion people, China

exhibits all the signs of a typical developmental dilemma. Even though the

negative environmental effects associated with economic growth are

recognized by the authorities, economic growth remains the most urgent priority

for China (Heggelund, Andresen and Buan, 2010). Vice versa, China’s growing

economic and financial strengths are tempered by large-scale environmental

problems, along with official corruption at the local level and the limited

influence of the central government at the provincial and county level. This has

all led to considerable and increasing incidences of civil unrest and societal

instability (Economy, 2007; Morton, 2006).

During the early years of the reform and opening up policy, growth-oriented

norms and economic opportunities led local leaders to welcome polluting firms

for the local employment opportunities and financial benefits they produced, as

well as for personal gain (Jahiel, 2006). During this period, Chinese

manufacturing industries were increased dramatically in order to meet the fast

growing demand, both domestically and internationally. However, with immature

technology skills and weak incentives for environment protection, those

manufacturing industries began to flood the country’s rivers with toxic pollutants

to an extreme extent. Other, bigger enterprises, however, geared with the most

recent pollution-control devices simply decided not to use them to avoid

increasing production costs (Grano, 2008). Globalization as a key driving force

for the economic situation also imposed huge pressures on China; entering into

the WTO was a sign that, on the one hand, China could began to gain

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opportunities to learn new technologies, while on the other hand, it was able to

race for stronger domestic capacities, even at a cost to the environment.

Throughout China, the opportunities to reap large financial rewards from

investment ventures have grown dramatically, but more ventures have

supported heavily polluting industries that have destroyed the soils and streams

of surrounding communities (Jahiel, 2006). These damages have exacerbated

China’s ecological system and led serious environmental problems for both

present and future generations.

Developed countries have often criticized the level of air pollutions that is

produced in China. In recent years, air pollution in China has indeed become a

serious problem - obvious to any visitor to a large Chinese city (The World

Bank, 2007, 2013). China has seen rapidly increasing carbon dioxide (CO2)

emissions in recent years. In 2007, the country overtook the US to become the

largest global CO2 emitter, and its emissions continue to grow (Miao, 2014).

These increasing emissions levels have put China under both international and

national scrutiny, particularly as 70% of China’s energy comes from coal – a

fossil fuel responsible for a host of other environmental impacts, including poor

air quality (Miao, 2014). In 2011, air quality reached “crisis” level in Beijing. As

the US Embassy reported, particulate air pollution in Beijing had exceeded the

maximum standard scale, and the situation was described as “crazily bad”. The

media also reported that the pollution had brought a rush of patients to hospitals

during those weeks, most suffering from heart attacks or respiratory problems.

These dramatic and visible air pollution problems resurfaced again in January

2013 (Wu, Deng, Huang, Morck, Yeung, 2013). But there is not just the issue of

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air pollution but also industrial pollution, caused by sulfur dioxide (SO2), which

has already caused serious damage to human lives alongside environmental

degradation, SO2 is the main substance causing acid rain. China is the largest

emitter of chlorofluorocarbons and, largely due to its reliance on coal,

discharges twice as much sulfur as the US, which contributes to acid rain in

South Korea and Japan (Stalley, 2009). Acid rain has always been one of the

top concerns in China because of its ability to create wide spread damages,

causing concerns for neighboring countries and the wider international society

over the last three decades.

However the debate on who is to blame and who is to pay for climate change

has been raised, along with discussions on environmental issues. Some people

argue that the enormous divide between rich and poor countries has made it

increasingly easy for the industrialized world to stall and keep blaming China

and other developing countries, while the latter continue to resist significant cuts

and legally binding targets (Leahy, 2009) despite the historical inequality of

those emissions (Shah, 2012).

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Chapter 2

Negative Responses to the Chinese Government’s

Environmental Performance

The Chinese government has received enormous criticism regarding its

responses to international environmental policies on climate change. Blame

was directed at China for the failure of the Copenhagen summit. This, alongside

the negative media attention, surprised China “…since it felt like it had brought

a lot to the table by agreeing to reduce its carbon intensity and taking significant

steps to improve energy efficiency and renewables,” said Alvin Lin, China

Climate and Energy Policy Director at the National Resources Defense Council

(cited in Hsu and Zhao, 2011). Apart from that, the UK’s then-climate change

secretary, Ed Miliband, said that China had ‘vetoed’ targets of 50% global

emissions reductions and 80% reductions by developed countries by 2050.

Miliband complained that China responded with a great degree of resistance, as

they initially did not want to sign a legal agreement (The Telegraph, 2009).

Brazil’s representative also pointed out how illogical China’s position was

(Lynas, 2009). In general, the main criticism leveled against the Chinese

commitment is that it represents the status quo, or the continuation of current

policies, measures, trends, and can be considered nothing more than a

“business-as-usual” response (Chandler, 2009).

However, it is wrong to criticise China’s pledge to reduce its carbon intensity by

45% by 2020, because this criticism lacks knowledge and context (William and

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Wang, 2009). Indeed, no developing country in economic history has cut its

energy-related greenhouse gas emissions growth so deeply and for so long

(Chandler, 2009). The criticism is also no minor academic failing, but provides

cover for the opponents of climate change action in the US (Chandler, 2009), as

the US neither wants to participate in emission reductions nor be a leader in the

international emissions reduction target. In fact, the criticism could never be an

excuse for the US not to take action. That is because if China implements its

Copenhagen commitment and the US implements President Obama’s target,

which is to reduce its current emissions by almost 20% by 2020, US per capita

emissions would still be double those of China in 2020 (International Energy

Agency, 2009). Therefore, the US still needs to reduce its emissions to a very

large extent in order to meet the standard. The criticism of China’s 2020 target

is therefore neither productive nor justified, and, if not a cynical ploy to avoid US

action, can be explained only by labeling it as lazy scholarship or reflexive

“China bashing” (Chandler, 2009). Apart from the criticism of the Chinese

government by developed countries, it is worth mentioning the following

context, whereby PPP, EPCEP and CBDR principles and concepts suggested

that developed countries should pay for the costs of climate change. However,

climate change is indeed a complex question and these principles are hard to

be applied in real situations.

When investigating who should be held responsible for the cost of climate

change, the question of who has caused climate change follows. Throughout

history, industrialization led by developed countries has emitted massive

greenhouse gases, causing most of the air pollution and climate change we

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suffer today. In other words, industrialization not only benefited the developed

countries by cumulating capital, but also caused harm to others by leaving

environmentally damaging substances on earth. One common way of thinking

about harms, including both environmental and non-environmental harms, is

that those who have caused a problem (such as pollution) should foot the bill –

that is “the polluter should pay” (Caney, 2005, p.125).

The polluter pays principle suggests the most defensible account of fairness

guideline, with the rich countries bearing the brunt, and perhaps even the

entirety, of the costs (Gardiner, 2004). The evidence, according to the World

Resource Institute’s Climate Analysis Indicator Tool (CAIT), indicates that the

US and the EU emitted over 55% of the carbon dioxide produced from 1850 to

2003, whereas China was responsible for less than 8%. It is convincible to

argue that China does not have a major responsibility for the cause of GHG and

therefore does not have to take on the burdens of climate prevention. It would

make more sense for the developed countries who are most responsible for

causing the problem in the past to make the greatest sacrifices to address it

(Smith and Lennon, 2008).

Furthermore, the idea that those parties with the most resources should

contribute the most to the endeavor, (Shue, 1999), is also convincing.

Developed countries on average have more capital reserves than developing

countries, therefore they could make changes more easily. The most urgent aim

for developing countries is to meet their basic needs, as the problem of lack of

food, lack of clean drinking water and lack of jobs are more important than

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environmental protection. It is unfair for people in states with far more than

enough to expect people in states with less than enough to turn their attention

away from their own urgent problems in order to cooperate with the much

better-off in solving their problems (Shue, 1999). In this case, developed

countries have more obligations to contribute to the cost of climate change.

According to Caney’s PPP, developed countries caused the GHG emissions so

therefore they have historical responsibility for the cost of climate change and

they have a comparatively stronger domestic capacity than developing

countries.

However, the PPP is hard to apply in practice. As the US and others have

characterize it is unfair to make the industrialized nations pay for climate

emissions that were emitted in the past century or longer ago, at a time when

they did not know it would cause more harm (Boden, Marland and Andres,

2011). Furthermore, it must be acknowledged that the PPP is not easily

extended in an intergenerational context (Caney, 2005). This is because the

PPP is inapplicable when the pollution results from people no longer alive and

also cannot be applied to the distant past - it can only be applied to the present

and near past (Caney, 2005).

Apart from the PPP, the EPCEP is also hard to apply in real life situations.

Stabilizing carbon emissions at current levels would give a per capita rate of

roughly one ton per year. This gives an equal entitlement standard that

individual can emit. But actual emissions in rich countries are substantially in

excess of this: the US is at more than 5 tons per capita (and rising); and Japan,

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Australia, and Western Europe are all in a range from 1.6 to 4.2 tons per capita

(with most below 3). India and China, on the other hand, are significantly below

their per capita allocation (at 0.29 and 0.76, respectively) (Singer 2002, pp.29-

40). Therefore, the principle suggests that developing countries on an even-

handed baseline should be allowed to increase emissions, whereas developed

countries such as the US should cut their emissions in order to achieve the

average per capita standard. However, the last data for 2012 shows China and

the UK have almost identical per capita emissions, meaning that China should

not delay its actions on reducing emissions. Also, the real objection to allocating

the atmosphere’s capacity to absorb greenhouse gases to nations on the basis

of equal per capita shares is that it would be tremendously dislocating for

industrialized nations to reduce their emissions so much that, within 5, 10, or 15

years, they are not producing more than their share, on a per capita basis, of

some acceptable level of greenhouse gas (Singer, 2002). Furthermore, if you

take historical emissions into consideration, developed countries may not be

entitled for any further emissions at all (Garvey, 2008). In practice, it seems

impossible for the US to meet the requirement, leading to a result whereby the

EPCEP is hard to achieve in real life. It is undeniable that the planet’s capacity

to absorb greenhouse-gas emissions is limited. If there actually is a level of

emissions which we think the planet can handle without unnecessary danger,

then emissions corresponding to that level ought to be shared out equally.

Everybody should have an equal slice of the planetary pie (Garvey, 2008).

However, practically this is unlikely to work out, due to the enormous divide

between developed countries and developing countries, global North and global

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South, rich and poor. Therefore, it is important to consider the real objections

behind the theoretical concepts of climate issues.

China was not involved in the past industrialization process thus the per capita

emissions were at that time lower than in the developed countries. It did not

exceed the average standard that each person has an entitlement to, that is, an

equal per capita allocation of carbon dioxide emissions (Neumayer, 2000). This

means that China should still have room to increase its emissions by as much

as 33% (Garvey, 2008). However this leads to concern from developed

countries such the US. “I will tell you one thing I’m not going to do is I’m not

going to let the United States carry the burden for cleaning up the world’s air,

like the Kyoto Treaty would have done. China and India were exempted from

that treaty” (George W. Bush, quoted by Singer, 2002, p. 30).

However, apart from the PPP and EPCEP, the concept of CBDR stated in the

Rio Declaration only works theoretically, being hard to apply in practice. Climate

change entered the international political arena in 1988, when the United

Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Office jointly set up

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 1990, the IPCC

reported that the threat of climate change was real, and a global treaty was

needed to deal with it. The United Nations General Assembly resolved to

proceed with such a treaty (Caney, 2005). In 1992, two years after the IPCC’s

first report, the world’s largest meeting in Rio de Janeiro, for what came to be

known as The Earth Summit, was held, coming up with an agreement called

‘The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’ (UNFCCC)

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which was signed and ratified by nearly 200 countries. The key features of the

UNFCCC include an acknowledgement of the fact that human beings have

played a tremendous role in climate change (Garvey, 2008) and that it is

necessary to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a

level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate

system (UNFCCC, 1992).

The concept of CBDR was expressed in the Rio Declaration: States shall

cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the

health and integrity of the Earth’s ecosystem. In view of the different

contributions to global environmental degradation, states have common but

differentiated responsibilities (UNEP, 1992). This idea suggested that it is

important for all states to cooperate and act together according to their capacity

in order to effectively solve the problem of climate change. It is crucial to

understand that climate change is an international issue, one which cannot be

solved by one or two countries or the developed nations alone. However, with

regard to the UNFCCC, there were suggestions that developed countries

should take the leading role in combating climate change and the adverse

effects thereof, while, at the same time, developing countries should promote a

sustainable level of economic growth and development by cooperating with

other countries (UNFCCC, 1992). In order to sufficiently address climate

change, the Kyoto Protocol was tabled at the third conference of the UNFCCC

in 1997. It was “guided by Article 3” of the UNFCCC and the CBDR principle

(Caney, 2005, p.138). The treaty recognizes that developed countries have

contributed the most to the anthropogenic build-up of carbon dioxide in the

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atmosphere; therefore they are the ones who should take the leading role in

climate change prevention. The Kyoto Protocol was enforced on 18 November

2004, after 55 Parties to the Convention had ratified it, including enough

industrialized countries – who have specific targets – to encompass 55% of that

group’s carbon dioxide emissions in 1990 (Gateway to the United Nations

Systems work on Climate Change, 1997). This was not the end, however, as

China, with its massive greenhouse gas emissions, did not form a binding

target, which led to some potential criticisms of the entire treaty. Also, the

tensions over implementation of the CBDR principle and North-South debates

have begun to grow, along with increasing alarm about future climate impact,

and the associated costs of mitigation and adaptation (Christoff, 2010).

According to recent publications, China overtook the US's CO2 emissions by

14% in 200, to become the world’s largest CO2 emitter, making up 24% of the

world’s total CO2 emissions (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency,

2008). In 2007, the IPCC reported that greenhouse-gas emissions from

developing countries will reach the levels of developed countries by 2015 or

2020, and emissions in developing countries, especially China, have been

growing at a much faster rate than in developed countries (IPCC, 2007). Also,

the fact that China and other developing countries are not Annex 1 countries

and have thus no emission reduction obligation has worried many parties (Mol

and Carter, 2006b). That said, the struggle between developed and developing

countries, especially between the US and China, has always existed in terms of

international negotiations.

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The engagement with climate problems reflects a broader contention regarding

strategies and methods that feature national economic strength, energy uses

and security, and future international political and economic leadership, which

cannot simply be solved by using the principles mentioned above. These

principles are all flawed in some way; they work theoretically but not practically,

not providing strong enough motivation for countries to take action. Whatever

the principles dictate, countries will act according to their own benefit. Before

investigating this in more detail, I will first evaluate the achievements of the

Chinese government in the realm of environmental protection. Despite these

principles listed above, China has done much more for environmental and

climate protection than commonly acknowledged.

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Chapter 3

Evaluation of the Chinese Government’s Role in

Environment Protection

Post-Kyoto Protocol

Apart from the above arguments of who should be held responsible for the

climate change, and the negative responses to the Chinese government’s

environmental performance on climate, throughout the past few decades, China

has worked extremely hard towards climate protection. This is especially

obvious in December 2005 when the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change Conference of the Parties meeting in Montreal took place,

focusing on a post-Kyoto Protocol. It became clear that China (and India and

Brazil) would become key players in these new rounds of negotiations. China

clearly indicated that discussions on post-Kyoto targets would no longer meet a

veto. In short, future environmental diplomacy concerning almost every

environmental issue will depend heavily on the role played by China. And China

is increasingly becoming aware of its shifting position in the arena of global

environmental politics (Mol and Carter, 2006b). However, China did not ratify

the Kyoto Protocol at the first time, although it cannot be said that it had no

incentives to ratify it. From the late 1980s until the Kyoto Protocol came into

existence, China’s policies on climate change reflected the government’s view

of climate change as a scientific issue, a topic introduced from abroad, and far

removed from the concerns of everyday life in China (Stensdal, 2012). In 2002,

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China ratified the Kyoto Protocol for a further extension of its positive

incentives. China created a new national economic development framework

with the concepts of sustainable development and a more scientific outlook.

China is adhering to a low-carbon development path and contributing to global

efforts in addressing climate change (Ma, 2011). It has now become the leading

country for projects of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), founding a

National Climate Change Programme and setting up the National Leading

Group on Climate Change with Premier Wen Jiabao as its Director in June

2007.

The 13th Conference of the Parties (COP13) was held in 2007, and the15th

Conference of the Parties (COP15) in 2009, the Chinese government reiterated

and detailed its support for the UNFCCC and the Bali Action Plan, declaring that

“the objective of the Copenhagen climate conference is to further enhance the

full, effective, sustained implementation of the UNFCCC and to reach positive

outcome, focusing on making concrete arrangements for mitigation, adaptation,

technology transfer and financial support” (PMPRC, 2009). Former President

Hu Jintao’s brief statement to the UN Climate Summit in September 2009

similarly emphasized that ‘fulfilling our respective responsibilities should be at

the core of our efforts (Hu, 2009).

Montreal Protocol

China had in fact actively engaged in climate protection long before the post-

Kyoto Protocol. Their involvement in the Montreal Protocol clearly showed

China’s positive participation in the international environmental treaty. The

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Montreal Protocol stipulates control measures and schedules so countries can

phase out the production and consumption of chemicals that destroy the ozone

layer. These chemicals, called ozone-depleting substances (ODS), include

chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are used in the production of refrigerators,

foams, mobile air conditioning, aerosol sprays, and tobacco; halons, which are

used in fire-fighting; carbon tetrachloride (CTC) and methyl chloroform, which

are used as solvents in engineering and manufacturing operations; and methyl

bromide, which is used in agricultural pesticides and tobacco production (Zhao,

2005).

China has been the world’s leading consumer and producer of ODS since 1996,

with CFC 11, and CFC 12, and halon 1211 being the most prevalent (Zhao,

2005). Developed countries that were previously the major ODS producers and

consumers phased out major halons in 1994 and CFCs in 1996. Meanwhile,

during its “grace period” under the Protocol, China’s demand for ODS increased

due to rapid economic growth (Zhao, 2005). The reform and opening up policies

in China also led to an increased number of foreign-investment ventures.

According to a 1995 SEPA study, 30% of these were engaged in heavily

polluting industries (Pollution Control Department of SEPA, 2002) – including

ones involved in the production and consumption of ozone-depleting

substances (ODSs) whose manufacture and use were banned in the

industrialized world under the Montreal Protocol (Kroll and Robbins, 2009). The

Montreal Protocol established the Multilateral Fund in 1991 to provide financial

and technical assistance to Article 5 countries, which are defined as signatory

developing countries with an annual consumption of ODS lower than 0.3 kg per

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capita (Zhao, 2005). The Multilateral Fund for the implementation of the

Montreal Protocol stipulates eligibility requirements for countries who wish to

receive assistance, and also the formulation of a country program and a policy

framework for the implementation of the actual Protocol (MLF Secretariat,

2004).

China’s National Program for the Phasing out of Ozone Depleting Substances

under the Montreal Protocol was issued in 1993 and revised in 1998. It presents

China’s plans and measures from completing its commitments under the

Protocol (SEPA, 1993). The involvement of a Multilateral Fund, creation of an

institutional framework and a data reporting system for the Montreal Protocol

has helped China to form a new national administrative system, in order to

coordinate existing ministries who are working toward treaty compliance. The

leading organization is the National Leading Group for Ozone Layer Protection,

which is composed of 18 ministries and commissions and coordinated by

SEPA. The Leading Group makes decisions on China’s implementation of the

Protocol, but the decision to ratify amendments requires approval from the

State Council. The PMO coordinates with other government agencies that are

part of the Leading Group and is the agency responsible for implementing

policies and programs approved by the Leading Group (Zhao, 2005). The

Chinese government has formulated national policies and regulations in order

to limit ODS consumption and production in industrial enterprises. From 1998

onwards, China’s progress in ODS reduction accelerated and major ODS –

CFCs, halons, and CTCs – were greatly reduced by 2002, meeting the

Protocol’s goals to freeze the production and consumption of major halons and

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CFCs by 1998 and 1999, respectively. By the end of 2000, CFC production

decreased 33% compared to mid-1990s levels; this was due to the closure of

30 companies (SEPA, 2001). Until 2002, halon production and consumption

had been reduced by 84%, three years ahead of the 50% reduction targets set

for 2005. Fortunately, the actual CFC consumption and production levels in

1999 were about 26% and 5% below the Protocol targets (Zhao, 2005). In

2002, it was found that production and consumption of methyl bromide were 4%

and 1% lower than the targeted average levels from 1995 to 1998 (Zhao, 2005).

These positive consequences could refer to the effective nature of Chinese

environmental governance under the Montreal Protocol. This is reflected in the

Scientific Development Concept that the Chinese Communist Party followed as

its socio-economic development guideline, which relies upon: integrating

sustainable development, social welfare, a person-centred society, increased

democracy, and, ultimately, the creation of a harmonious society (Grano, 2008).

This concept is important because it can help China work towards building a

more harmonious society by aggressively acting on current climate change and

environmental challenges.

Five-Year Plan: The Environmental Performance Index

Apart from the Chinese government’s active engagements with international

climate protection treaties, over the past few decades, China has also formed a

Five-Year Plan for addressing environmental issues for the prevention of

climate change. The Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social

Development, or simply, the Five-Year Plan, aims to create more socially

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inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth, and boost domestic

consumption so that the Chinese economy begins can be re-orientate away

from heavy industry and resource-intensive production towards a more

consumption-base and resource-efficient economy (Townshend et al., 2013).

The 9th Five-Year Plan, and 10th Five-Year Plan formed by the Chinese

government drew huge attention regarding on the control of air pollution and

environmental degradation (Schroeder, 2008). Putting a stop to environmental

degradation and increasing energy efficiency has thus been promoted to the top

of the political agenda, culminating in the target of the 11th Five-Year Plan,

which is to reduce energy intensity by 20% by 2015 (Zhang, 2005). In the 10th

Five-Year Plan period alone, China put 700 billion yuan into six key forestry

programs including the “natural forest protection” and “grain for green” projects

(Deng Huaning, et al., 2005). The law for the promotion of renewable energies

came into force on 1st January 2006, and governmental institutions with

relevance for climate governance. For example, the former National

Environmental Protection Agency, were upgraded into the State Environmental

Protection Agency, which now enjoys ministerial status (Schroeder, 2008). In

the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), the Chinese government emphasized a

novel set of political instruments, such as binding agreements with provincial

governors and managers of major state-owned power companies, a modified

evaluation system for government officials, political and financial incentives,

performance audits, and stronger enforcement of existing laws by the central

government. The Chinese government has steadily pushed itself forward to

achieve sustainable development and prevent the long term effect of climate

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change.

China is a very interesting case because. It has developed so rapidly over the

last two decades and accordingly is suffering severe consequences.

Nonetheless, it has been the only country able to reverse the trend of growing

their economy alongside growing emissions and manage to cut emissions,

especially when compared to other BRIC countries: India, Brazil, and Russia

(Hsu Angel, 2014). Chinese authorities have recognized the urgency of climate

change and energy security and in 2011, the Chinese government launched the

12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), the greenest social and economic

development blueprint in China to date (National People’s Congress, 2011).

This is the first time that the Plan established clear targets to reduce carbon

intensity by 16% to 17% from 2004 baseline levels, with a longer-term goal of

lowering its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40%-45% by 2020

compared to the 2005 level (Miao, 2014). China has invested heavily in

renewable energy development and has been aggressively rolling out solar and

wind generation technologies (Miao, 2014), aiming to increase the share of non-

fossil fuel in primary energy consumption to around 15% by 2020 and increase

forest coverage by 40 million hectares and forest stock volume by 1.3 billion

cubic meters by 2020 from the 2005 levels (Su, 2010). China’s performance in

the Climate and Energy category demonstrates the tangible results of policies

implemented over the last few years that have helped to reduce energy and

carbon intensity in the country (Miao, 2014). These achievements prove that

China has a positive attitude towards the climate change is committed to

government missions on environment protection. In addition, China has also

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worked hard to increase air quality, especially in 2008, when Beijing organized

the 2008 Summer Olympic Games; this hugely helped environment protection.

The main goal of the Chinese government regarding this international event

was to hold a “Green Olympics”. Chinese environmental reform went through

profound dramatic changes during this period. Specific industrial pollution

control policy was enforced in 2008 in order to improve air quality, partly to

reduce air pollutants and partly as a role in long-term climate change

prevention. Power plants were required to reduce their emissions by 30% from

their levels in June 2008. This reduction was required even for plants that had

already met the Chinese emission standards. The Beijing municipal government

announced an “Air Quality Guarantee Plan for the 29th Olympic Games in

Beijing” and this improved air quality during that period (Cao, et al., 2013).

Wang et al (2010b) also found out that in June 2008, the daily emissions of

sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NOX), and particulate matter (PM10) in

Beijing totaled 103.9, 428.5, and 362.7 tons, respectively. During the Olympic

games, the daily emissions of SO2, NOX, and PM10 in Beijing were reduced to

61.6, 229.1 and 164.3 tons, that is, 41, 47, and 55% lower than the respective

June 2008 emission levels (Wang, et al., 2010). These improvements were a

positive sign and gave long-term direction for other Chinese cities.

Evidence shows that Beijing achieved more than what it committed to, in terms

of actual money spent and green coverage of the city (Wei, 2008). The

Government introduced state-of-the-art energy saving technologies - such as

solar hot water and geothermal and solar photovoltaic systems - in its Olympics

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venues, 20% of the electricity used in the Olympic venue during the Olympics

coming from clean wind sources. More than 3,700 buses ran on compressed

natural gas at the time of the Olympics - one of the largest fleets of this kind

operating in any city in the world - and by the end of 2008, Beijing had

upgraded 16,000 boilers under 20 tons and 44,000 boilers under 1 ton, and

converted 32,000 household heating systems from coal heating to electricity at

the same time (Wei, 2008). Olympic sponsors contributed to the vision of a

“Green Olympics” in various ways. All of Coca Cola’s 5,658 units including

Olympic coolers and vending machines used HFC-free natural refrigerants.

HFCs are among the major greenhouse gases targeted by the Kyoto Protocol

(Wei, 2008). The 2008 Olympic Games left an important environmental legacy

for Beijing in areas such as clean transportation infrastructure, energy

efficiency, renewable energy, water and waste treatment. The 10th Five-Year

Plan period also established SO2 emission targets for specific industrial sectors

in heavily polluting regions which helped to create better air quality and

environmental conditions.

To summarize, the government established an environmental policy framework

consisting of an array of environmental policies that were embedded in various

types of national laws and environmental goals described in the Five-Year

Plans (Cao, et al., 2013). These Five-Year Plans all to various degrees, helped

prevent climate change and showed a clear and positive indication of the

Chinese government’s environmental performance.

However, the 2014 Yale Environmental Performance Index (EPI) – a biennial

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global ranking of how well countries perform on a range of critical environmental

issues – ranked China at 118th out of 178 countries. With respect to other

emerging economies, with rapid growth and development, China did not fare as

well overall as Brazil (77th), Russia (73rd), or South Africa (72nd), but was

considerably ahead of India, which ranked 155th (Hsu and Miao, 2014). China is

a leader in addressing climate change and is taking corrective action to address

its weaknesses. Also, with the concern of climate change and an energy

intensity reduction target in place, following the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010)

and a carbon intensity target established in 2009, China performed better than

all other emerging economies (Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa) in

reducing its rate of carbon intensity growth (Hsu and Miao, 2014). Through top-

level commitment, China has demonstrated considerable influential leadership

in terms of meeting targets to reduce the carbon and energy intensity of its

economic growth. Gains in energy efficiency, achieved by eliminating inefficient

industrial production, and through the increase of renewable energy, are

measurable (Hsu, 2014).

China’s performance on the 2014 EPI may not come as a surprise to its

decision makers, who have demonstrated and continue to demonstrate

considerable attention and commitment to addressing environmental challenges

over the last decade, “…what is important to recognize are the gains China has

achieved, particularly on climate and energy, and that efforts are being made to

address areas of weakness” (Hsu and Miao, 2014). When evaluating the

Chinese government’s environmental performance, it is important to recognize

that the Chinese government and people are willing to work with the

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international community to respond to risks and challenges, share in

development opportunities, and make contributions to humanity’s lofty causes

of peace and development (Wen, 2011). China has strong incentives for

undertaking climate prevention, and as Wen Jiabao, former premier of the

Chinese State Council stated, China would effectively work to conserve

resources and protect the environment, and actively respond to climate change

(Wen, 2011). China will effectively strengthen its resource conservation and

management, and become better able to ensure adequate supplies of

resources, intensify the protection of farmland and the environment, strengthen

ecological development and systems to prevent and mitigate natural disasters,

and comprehensively build on the capacity for sustainable development (Wen,

2011). Therefore, it is incorrect for developed countries to negatively assess the

Chinese government’s environmental performance as China has achieved

some remarkably positive outcomes, working hard towards implementing

sustainable development.

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Chapter 4

‘Realism’ and Climate Change

As this dissertation mentioned in chapter one, anthropogenic climate change is

a global commons problem because its causes – man-made greenhouse gas

emissions – and its impact on human societies are distributed across the

boundaries and jurisdictions of individual states (Keohane et al 1994; Vogler

2011). Because of the cross-boundary impact of climate change, we are able to

answer the question of why China has participated in climate change

prevention. In the following section, I use realist theory to explain the Chinese

government’s original intensions for climate change prevention.

Realism is the dominant paradigm in the modern study of international relations,

principally because its insights into the regularity of interstate conflict are difficult

to refute when looking at the historical records (Habib, 2011). Realists see

sovereign states as the primary actors in an anarchic international system,

where there is no supreme authority to adjudicate the relations between states

(Mearsheimer, 2001). In the absence of a supreme authority, it is material

power and military strength that are decisive in shaping the pattern of interstate

relations (Habib, 2011). As a result, insecurity pervades the system and breeds

an ongoing struggle between states for power and survival (Frankel, 1996).

When placing environment issues such as climate change into the context of

realism, it is first important to recognize that climate change will cause severe

consequences to states, including damage to farmland and infrastructures. In

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traditional realist analysis, state power depends fundamentally on the natural

resources contained within a territorially delimited space (Morgenthau, 1978).

Climate change will redraw our coastlines, alter where we can grow food,

change where we can find water, expose us to fierce storms or more severe

droughts, and likely force large numbers of people to move from their

homelands (Lee, 2011). As realists assume that states are the primary actors in

the anarchic realm of international politics, they are restricted to seeing threats

only via the power maximization strategies of other states, thus damages to the

state caused by climate change will inevitably diminish state power, whilst

simultaneously increasing the relative powers of other states. This would create

a situation where states are fearful if they do not prevent climate change or

participate in environment protection.

Neo-realism, in addition, argues that in order to successfully address this global

problem - climate change - via complex paths of causality and geographically

diffuse impacts, the intensions are more favorable to international cooperation

rather than competition and power maximization; this is because traditional

realist self-help strategies do little to ameliorate the problem (Habib, 2011). The

issue here is not the contest of survival between states in the absence of a

higher power, but rather an alternation of the physical conditions in which this

contest takes place, impacting all players (Habib, 2011).

Secondly, climate change does not respect national boundaries, and China has

already suffered the severe consequences of climate change. The increase in

the global average surface temperature has caused huge impact on the

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Himalayas. As I mentioned in chapter one, glaciers melting in the Himalayas

could produce large-scale flooding and mudslides in such a mountainous area.

Also, the rising sea level is likely to result in higher tides and storm surges,

exacerbating coastal erosion for low-lying coastal locations. Shanghai’s rising

sea levels have greatly influenced human structures and vital infrastructure

such as ports and power states, and farmland (Cruz et al. 2007). China has

realized the damages that climate change has imposed on its population, which

leading to its active participations in climate protection.

Thirdly, Chinese governments have noted that climate policy could yield co-

benefits in the control of local pollution, that is, by reducing emissions of sulfur,

nitrogen and particulate matter pollution (SOx, NOx, and PM). Climate policy to

reduce GHG emissions could simultaneously deliver important improvements in

public health (Streets, 2005; Teng and Gu, 2007). From a realist perspective, it

is in the interest of the Chinese government to put a high priority on reducing

pollution, under the rubric of Hu Jintao’s official principles of a harmonious

society and the ‘scientific concept of development” (Zheng, 2005). Along with

other factors, which have also motivated China’s leaders to engage in climate

prevention, (for example, power, both internal and external) there is reflected in

China’s doctrine reflects a peaceful and positive rise to great power status;

prosperity, economic growth through a market economy, and long-term stability

and durability for the Chinese regime; and so on (Wiener, 2008).

Fourthly, China is highly concerned about its domestic political stability. Any

likelihood of political instability occurring within the state should be avoided. As

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Elizabeth Economy writes:

“In the view of China’s leaders … damage to the environment itself is

secondary problem. Of greater concern to them are its indirect effects:

the threat it poses the continuation of the Chinese economic miracle and

to public health, and the country’s international reputation. Taken

together, these challenges could undermine the authority of the

communist Party … the Chinese leadership’s greatest fear is, namely,

that its failure to protect the environment may someday serve as the

catalyst for broad-based demands for political change” (Economy, 2007;

The Economist, 2008).

China’s leaders considered that climate change would bring about political

upheaval, because the tensions within China, that is, between urban and rural,

rich and poor, alongside explosive economic growth offset by the costs of

pollution, all have the potential to stimulate the public in confronting China’s

leaders in the environmental arena (Wiener, 2008). This is because climate

change would both cause damage to human health and economic growth, and

because such damage will make distributional tensions more acute, risk

sparking political upheaval, and destabilize the domestic society (Wiener,

2008). The more damage that climate change creates, the more acute the

tensions will be thus the more likely it is that political upheaval will occur. The

increasing frequency and severity of climate change impacts, along with any

economic downturn that they may bring many foreshadow further civil

disturbances in the future and the weakening of Chinese Communist Party

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control (Habib, 2011).

Fifthly, the design of the international climate treaty regime itself should offer

positive incentives to China (Wiener, 2008). International climate treaties would

not only improve its reputation of Chinese governments, but also would help

China improve its technologies. As China gradually becomes a global

superpower, the Chinese government is willing to participate in other problem

areas in order to take on greater responsibility. This outlook can be understood

as part of a realist national interest in fostering interdependencies and

reciprocities that will ultimately benefit China (Wiener, 2008). When China,

adopted the Bali Action Plan, it illustrated that China is willing to take more

responsibility for climate protection, showing a great interest to take a

leadership role on global environmental issues. Apart from that, technological

change is also improving the availability of effective options such as carbon

capture and storage (CCS) methods (Wiener, 2008). Such technological

innovation has in the past mainly occurred in developed countries, but since

China has actively engaged in the international treaty, such methods have now

become available in China (Gu and Ake-Lundvall, 2006). Subsequent benefits

were brought to China through international co-operation which motivated

China to take on a more active role.

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Conclusion

Since its “reform and opening up”, China has generated a miraculously fast

level of economic growth, and is also known for its severe air pollution and a

range of other environmental problems. Likewise, its problems in providing key

public services, including basic healthcare, universal public education, and

social security, continue to draw both national and international criticism (Wu, et

al., 2013). It has been suggested China should not delay taking a larger role in

world environmental affairs, as it has contributed to the world’s major

greenhouse gas emissions and is a key player in energy consumption and

production. However, China has contributed hugely to climate protection. The

changing of the environmental management system, the creation of Five-Year

Plans and increasing international environmental cooperation are China’s most

important, under acknowledged achievements. Changes to the environmental

management system in China was influenced by governance reforms, which

focused on enhancing the efficiency, transparency, and fairness of the

administrative state, strengthening the regulatory apparatuses, removing

various institutional incentives and loopholes for corrupt practices, and

improving the environment for business (Yang, 2004, p.291).

The evidence this dissertation has gathered shows that on the one hand, China

has become an important leader in promoting environmental dialogues with

other countries (Grano, 2008) and has gradually shaped the frameworks of

international environmental governance. On the other hand, it has followed the

concept of sustainable development and taken a scientific outlook in its

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domestic sphere. China has been inspired by the idea that we all share one

planet; a complicated and living being where interdependencies among

countries are important and in which, episodes taking place in one area have a

huge impact on another. Neither pollution nor wildlife respect international

boundaries, action to mitigate or conserve sometimes has to involve more than

one state (Lee, 2011). Nonetheless, these perspectives are embedded in

China’s own self-interest, and that is reflected in realist thought as shown in

chapter four. Therefore, China’s contributions to environmental protection and

climate change prevention will not only benefit present but also future Chinese

generations but (it must be recognized) will benefit other human beings in the

world for a long-term period.

Furthermore, the debate between North and South is very complex, and the

emergence on the world economic scene of, in particular, China, has rekindled

the debate on who is to blame and who is to pay for the issue of climate

change. Neither the PPP nor the EPCEP suggest China should be held

responsible for it, although, in some way, the CBDR has highlighted China’s

responsibilities regarding emissions reductions, but with the lack of a clear

structure and binding target, making it ineffective and inapplicable to real life

situations.

Despite the negative international responses to the Chinese government’s

environmental performance and hardly applicable principles listed in Chapter

two, China has in fact played a huge role in climate change prevention, both

internationally and domestically. China reformed its environmental governance

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and actively created and implemented domestic environmental policies,

contributing hugely to climate change prevention. China has tried to find

connections between the areas of economic development, sustainable

development and climate change. The Chinese government is trying to develop

economics while at the same time prevent climate change. The Chinese

government follows the concept of scientific outlook, as it attempted to achieve

its leadership on international affairs by not losing benefits and gaining a

reputation at the same time.

International realist theory also convincingly demonstrates Chinese incentives

to participate in international climate cooperation by forming international

environmental treaties in order to develop sustainably. This is not only because

climate change has caused severe consequences for China, but also because

effective international climate cooperation was able to provide opportunities for

countries to discuss the implementation of new energy technologies and energy

efficiency measures. Furthermore, there are increasing chances for China to

play a strategic role in decision-making about investments abroad and

international trade. This undoubtedly fits the purpose of the Chinese

government in looking after its self-interest, but it also helps China to avoid

future energy shortages and climate change that may lead to negative results.

China is facing an unprecedented challenge in terms of domestic and

international development, and the environment, for which no mature

experience and ready models are available. To pursue sustainable

development with Chinese characteristics is a process of continued learning,

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practice, adjustment and innovation, which needs the broad and effective

participation of relevant stakeholders (Wang, 2012). China has effectively

balanced the often difficult relationship between political/economic needs with

environmental protection, and we should applaud China for what it has done –

both in the past and in its optimistic belief for its future role, which it will play out

against international environmental protections.

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