Chapter 24 21. Low-carbon economy

China's aspiration is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40% to 45% from 2020 to 2025, while strengthening legislation to fulfill its commitments to the international community. If China still has a lot of work to do in this area, it is because it is a very densely populated country, and despite its rapid development, it is still a developing country with many problems to be solved. China, the world's largest country in the future, is also a rapidly developing country. Its main priorities are: national stability, economic development, social progress, eradication of poverty for most of the population, improvement of people's welfare, etc., just like same as other emerging countries.

At a time when all countries are experiencing climate warming and scarcity of natural resources, implementing a low-carbon economy is a huge challenge for all. In recent years, the Chinese government has implemented the expanded development of low-carbon economy by seeking a development model suitable for the country's national conditions and organically combining macro policies and market mechanisms.The more a country develops this type of economy, the more successful it will be.China, rich in coal resources but short of oil and natural gas, is a big carbon emitter. The Chinese government has been paying attention to this issue for a long time and has taken measures to reduce energy consumption while developing new energy sources.

China should introduce a low-carbon industrial system in order to create an energy-saving and environment-friendly society by 2015. Looking at the measures China has taken, we can see that China is moving along a path that allows it to develop low carbon. For example, afforestation of at least 5.92 million hectares in 2010, active participation in international cooperation, development of energy economy, environmental protection and development of circular economy, treatment capacity of 15 million cubic meters of waste water and 60,000 tons of garbage discharged by urban areas every day, etc.

In order to develop a circular economy, China should strengthen the reuse of mineral resources, the recycling of industrial waste, the reuse of thermal energy and waste heat power generation, and the recycling of household waste, etc. China will give some technical support and tax incentives to promote the use of non-fossil fuels and renewable energy, and strive to increase its share in basic energy from 9.9% in 2009 to 15% by 2020. These goals are real challenges for China, and more efforts are needed to achieve them.In the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), China decided its development strategy: develop resources and save energy.Emphasis is placed on saving energy while improving energy efficiency for sustainable development.The plan also encourages the promotion and application of energy-saving technologies, new and renewable energy sources, including wind, solar and geothermal energy.

Immediately afterwards, the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) made resource conservation a national policy and established two goals: one is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, and the other is the application of new resources . China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) places particular emphasis on tapping the huge potential of the domestic market, significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and improving the quality of economic growth.The plan clarifies that its main objectives are: to make strategic adjustments to the national economy, to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP, and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

According to the "Life Planet Report" released on October 13, 2010, China's per capita consumption of natural resources is now lower than the world average. According to the report, China's per capita ecological footprint ranks 74th in the world.This means that China's per capita consumption of natural resources is lower than the world average. In the report, the top ten countries are: United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Denmark, Belgium, the United States, Estonia, Canada, Australia, Kuwait and Ireland. The OECD's per capita ecological footprint accounts for 37% of the world's, which is higher than the average level of the "BRIC countries".In this report, the Ecological Footprint measures the impact of human needs on ecosystems and reflects the consumption of ecological resources.The report also pointed out that if everyone lived like Americans, it would take as many as 4.5 earths to meet human consumption and absorb the carbon dioxide emitted.