(I) Strengthening Top-level Planning of Low-carbon Development

Formulating and implementing the Work Plan for Greenhouse Gases Emission control During the 12th Five-Year Plan Period. In 2011, the State Council published the Work Plan for Controlling Greenhouse Gas Emissions During the 12th Five-Year Plan Period, a document compiled under the direction of the National Development and Reform Commission. The plan sets out the overall requirements and main objectives for the control of greenhouse gas emissions to 2015 and defines key tasks and policy measures for promoting low-carbon development. In 2012, the General Office of the State Council published the Work Division Scheme for the Work Plan for Controlling Greenhouse Gas Emissions During the 12th Five-Year Plan Period, which defines an overall framework for the implementation of the plan.

Improving the legal system for addressing climate change. The National Development and Reform Commission and relevant departments have drafted a legal framework for addressing climate change. A project entitled Studies into Provincial Legislation on Climate Change: a Case Study of Jiangsu Province was initiated to improve provincial legislation on addressing climate change and gain experience for accelerating the passing of national legislation.

Launching major strategic studies and formulating plans. The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and other relevant departments organized and launched a research project on China's macro strategy for low-carbon development. The project analyzed and made judgments on the overall situation of China's low-carbon development in 2020, 2030 and 2050, and proposed phased objectives and tasks, implementation approaches, policy systems and safeguard measures for the country's low carbon macro-strategy, which lays a theoretical and policy foundation for accelerating low-carbon development. The National Development and Reform Commission has organized the compil of the National Plan for Addressing Climate Change (2011-2020), and published the Guidance on the Compiling of Local Plans for Addressing Climate Change to strengthen guidance available to local planners. It has also organized the compiling of the Overall National Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change.

(II) Gradually Establishing Statistical and Accounting Systems for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Launching and improving a basic statistical system for measuring greenhouse gas emissions. The National Development and Reform Commission and other relevant departments organized the compiling of Opinions on Improving Response to Climate Change and Statistical Work for Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Statistical departments in Yunnan and other provinces have initiated basic statistical investigations of greenhouse gas emissions. The Government Offices Administration of the State Council has formulated the Statistical System of Energy and Resources Consumption in Public Institutions, gathered and analyzed statistics on energy and resource consumption by public institutions and worked out energy consumption statistics for state office buildings and other large public buildings for the year 2011 and the 11th Five-Year Plan period. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has revised the System of Statistical Report on Energy Consumption and Energy-Saving Information of Civil Buildings. The State Forestry Administration has further accelerated the development of the national forest carbon sink metering and monitoring system. Pilot projects have been extended to 17 provinces and cities. The National Bureau of Statistics released the Opinions on Strengthening and Improving the Statistical Work of Service Industry, which lays a solid foundation for establishing and improving energy statistics in the service sector. The Ministry of Transport has organized research on statistical work and monitoring of carbon emissions in the transport sector.

Vigorously advancing greenhouse gas inventory compilation and emission accounting. The National Development and Reform Commission has issued the Guidance for Compiling Provincial Greenhouse Gas Emission Lists (Trial), and organized the compilation of the 2005 greenhouse gas emission inventory and the second national report. It created a general report on greenhouse gas emission inventory for Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Hubei, Yunnan, Liaoning, Guangdong and Tianjin and completed individual reports on five industries, namely, energy, industrial production processes, agriculture, changes in land use and forestry, and waste. It has also compiled greenhouse gas emission inventories for another 24 provinces and cities, and carried out research into carbon emission calculation methods and reporting specifications for enterprises in the chemicals, building materials, steel, non-ferrous metal, electricity and aviation sectors.

(III) Fueling Support for Science and Technology

Strengthening basic scientific research. The Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission have jointly formulated the National Scientific and Technological Actions on Climate Change During the 12th Five-Year Plan Period. The Ministry of Science and Technology has passed the Development Plan for National Program on Key Basic Research Projects ( also known as the 973 Plan) to support the Climate Change Technology Special Project and also passed a Global Change and Major National Scientific Research Plan to improve the basic scientific research into climate change. The Ministry of Water Resources has undertaken research on key technologies related to the impact of climate change on water resources and begun a study of measures to support water conservancy adaptation as a response to climate change. The Ministry of Health has initiated research on adaptation mechanisms to address the impact of climate change on human health. The Ministry of Land and Resources has organized a research program entitled Addressing Global Climate Change and Geography Response Strategy. The Ministry of Environmental Protection has begun researching and developing policies to control air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in key industries such as steel, cement and transport. The State Forestry Administration has completed initial research into countermeasures of China's forests to respond and adapt to climate change, and into the technology of carbon sequestration and emission reduction management for typical forest ecosystems. The Ministry of Transport has organized a study on the construction of low-carbon transport systems. The China Meteorological Administration has launched a R&D program and the application in new climatic prediction techniques such as multi-mode super collection and power and statistical integration. It has also completed the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and contributed data to the fifth IPCC assessment report.

Enhancing R&D, application and promotion of low--carbon technology. The National Development and Reform Commission has authorized 20 demonstration projects in the steel, non-ferrous metals and petrochemical industries in the first phase of the National Low-carbon Technology Innovation and Industrialization Demonstration Project. In 2011 and 2012, the government distributed 2.74 billion yuan to fund 59 science and technology planning projects in energy sector. It has drawn up specific plans for energy technology, efficient clean coal conversion, and wind power generation. It has also released the fourth edition of State Key Energy-Efficient Technology Promotion Catalogues. The cement industry has installed waste heat power stations in 950 production facilities nationwide, saving 11.25 million tons of standard coal annually. It has approved five groups of Promoted Vehicle Catalogues of Energy-saving and New-energy Vehicle Demonstration Project, and has piloted green auto repair techniques in selected areas and carried out utilization and demonstration projects on highway energy-saving operations. The Golden Sun Demonstration Project has supported the construction of 343 photovoltaic power projects with a total installed capacity of 1,300 MW. Researches have also been carried out into the industrialization of key technologies in the fields of wave and tidal energy. Pilot projects have been launched to monitor marine biological carbon capture and study ocean-floor carbon sequestration. The Ministry of Science and Technology has initiated the technology development and demonstration of high concentration CO2 capture and geological storage in a 300,000 ton coal-to-oil project, the development of key technologies of CO2 reduction and utilization in the blast furnace iron-making process, and the R&D and demonstration of key technologies and equipments for carbon capture in 35,000 KW oxygen-enriched blast furnace operations. It has also carried out demonstration projects in carbon capture, oil substitutes, and storage technologies for coal-fired power plant flue gases.

Establishing research and advisory institutions. In November 2011, the National Development and Reform Commission established the National Strategic Research and International Cooperation Center for Climate Change, which aims to promote policy research on climate change. The Environment Development Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences jointly founded the Environment and Climate Change Center and the Ecological Protection and Climate Change Response Research Center. The State Forestry Administration built three forest carbon sink metering and monitoring centers in east, central and northwest China in 2011, and established a website to record the locations of forest, wetland and desert ecosystems in 2012. In May 2011, The Civil Aviation Administration of China established the Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Research and Promotion Center in China's Civil Aviation University, as an industrial research institute specializing in energy conservation.

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