Chinese Climate Policy: Institutions and Intent
Until the late 1990s, the balance of Chinese energy production and consumption was treated by the rest of the world as a net figure. No one knew what was going on inside the Chinese economy - it was a black box. As far as anyone was concerned, the Chinese would not soon be a major factor in world energy markets.
Energy policymakers realized how totally blind they were in 2004 when Chinese electricity production could not keep up with internal demand and the world experienced a surge in liquids demand as Chinese entrepreneurs fired up generator sets across the economy.
No country has confronted the need to collect data and formulate coherent policy for nearly a billion and a half consumers. A number of institutional arrangements have succeeded each other until now, when stronger energy policy and administrative functions of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) are gaining traction. NDRC vice-chairman Zhang Guobao has maintained a steady hand on Chinese energy-policy evolution for several years - overseeing the increasing coherence of Chinese domestic and international energy policy - but the tension with powerful state enterprises and other vested interests still effectively defies efforts to truly centralize Chinese national-level energy policy and program authority.
This study identifies the nature of the forces that drive or constrain change within China’s energy sector, and explores the Chinese approach to climate change.
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Chinese Climate Policy: Institutions and Intent
Author(s)
Jacques LESOURNE
Ancien Président du Comité scientifique du Centre Énergie
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