Palm | Kelapa Sawit

Three decades of social and economic achievements in China can be reversed if the country does not address the negative impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, says the latest China Human Development Report. The report was commissioned by UNDP in partnership with Renmin University of China.

“Most of the energy-consuming assets needed between now and 2020 have yet to be built,” concludes the report. “China’s success in moving towards low carbon development will be shaped by the types of investments, choices of technologies and organizational decisions that are made in the near future.”

The report says that China’s low carbon policies should include accelerating the phase-out of obsolete production, equipment, industries and products and aggressively expanding low carbon energy such as wind, biomass and solar energy. The report suggests that the priority should be given to energy-saving in production and construction.

China needs to make greater efforts in training, institution building, R&D and oversight in the low carbon field, according to the report.

The report calls for “setting the stage for the introductions of a cap and trade system in the medium and long term, based on a national carbon intensity target, and an enhanced system for monitoring and enforcement.”

It also recommends “establishing a credible and robust system for GHG accounting and statistics as a basis for policy-making as well as for monitoring and enforcement.”

See full report here.