China's kungfu fight against climate change
- By Chai Qimin
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E-mail China Daily, July 21, 2015
The third move is afforestation of an area as large as Beijing a year. Here, the most direct and simple move is to expand the carbon sink, and accelerate the recovery of the damaged environment. Last year, its forest stock increased by 2.19 billion cubic meters. In actual terms, its forest area has increased by 21.6 million hectares since 2005, that is, 13 times the size of Beijing. China's forest stock is likely to increase by 4.5 billion cubic meters by 2030, compared with the 2005 level.
The fourth move in China's kungfu fight against climate change is to ensure the emission peak is achieved as early as possible, that is before 2030. But emission peaks were not achieved even by developed countries uniformly, and hence they can divided into three groups:
Red Label - This group comprises countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia. Their per capita CO2 emissions usually stayed above 15 tons, and most of them reached their emission peaks after 2005. So their peaks are deemed unstable.
Yellow Label - This consists of countries like Germany, the United Kingdom and Belgium. The per capita CO2 emissions in these countries had been more than 10 tons, but they are lower now. Since most of them reached their peaks in the 1970s, they are considered stable and sustainable.
Blue Label - This group comprises countries such as Japan, Italy and Spain. Their per capita CO2 emissions stayed below 10 tons. But since most of them reached their emission peaks after 2005, they are deemed unstable as well.
If we take the level of economic development as the benchmark and if, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's projection up to 2060, China remains a Red Label country, its emissions will peak around 2040. But as a Yellow Label country, China's emissions will peak by 2025, and as a Blue Label country, its emissions will peak around 2035.
Obviously, China should take all measures to avoid being in the Red Label group by taking advantage of the advanced technology and greener development models. By doing so, it will be part of the Yellow Label countries and contribute more to the international community.
But we have enough reason to believe that China is on way to achieve its emission targets earlier, in historical terms, than developed countries.
The author is deputy director of the Strategy and Planning Department of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation.
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