Measured Insights
The latest blog posts from our research projects.
First Independent Review of Provincial-level Environmental Data in China
A report that my colleagues and I worked on for the last three years is finally available for public consumption. Below is the press release and a link to download the report.
Chinese experts discuss absolute emissions limits in Durban
The idea of a total cap on energy consumption in China, first suggested last March before the National People’s Congress has reemerged in Durban, and surprisingly there are now suggestions that China might consider some kind of a cap on carbon emissions. This has been suggested apparently as part of domestic policy rather than as a negotiating position, but details are very sketchy.
Propelling the Durban climate talks – China announces willingness to consider legally binding commitments post-2020
When China launched its first official pavilion at a UN climate conference on Sunday, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat Cristiana Figueres was there alongside China’s NDRC Vice Minister Xie Zhenhua to cut the ribbon. Swarmed by journalists in the standing-room only conference center of the China pavilion in Durban, Figueres applauded China for being a “trend-setter” in global renewable energy, resonating around the world and during the first week of climate negotiations in Durban.
Bridging Gaps in Durban: What can China do?
As the first week of the UN climate negotiations in Durban are underway, one of the most persistent themes has been how to bridge gaps- the divide between the developed and developing countries, many of whom disagree about whether the Kyoto Protocol should be extended into a second commitment period; the hole in climate finance pledges from developed countries; and the ambition or emissions gap between the Copenhagen pledges and the stabilization of global temperatures below a 2 degrees Celsius increase from pre-industrial levels.
Looking to Durban: China’s Climate Change Policy Progress Since Cancun
As its negotiators head to Durban, South Africa for the next round of the UNFCCC climate negotiations, China can point to significant progress in domestic climate policy since the Cancun negotiations a year ago. March, 2011 saw the adoption of China’s 12th Five-Year Plan, binding domestically China’s first phase of its Copenhagen and Cancun commitments to reduce its carbon intensity 40 to 45 percent by 2020. In this first year of the new Five Year Plan, China also adopted a number of specific climate-related implementation measures (For a more exhaustive list, see China’s just published White Paper on its climate change activities).
Demystifying China's Controversial Air Quality Measurements
Beijing’s air quality dominated international headlines when discrepancies arose last month between official monitoring data and U.S. Embassy measurements.
Hello, is this thing on?
My friend Daniel Ng alerted me to this James Fallows piece on poor Beijing air quality that has sent netizens a-flurry over the recent streak of bad air. Fallows included the typical photographic evidence of smoggy Beijing skylines as a reference.
Clearing the Haze
This post originally appeared on China Dialogue. China’s move to start measuring deadly air pollutant PM 2.5 for the first time signals a shift towards greater openness on the state of the environment, writes Angel Hsu. The news late last month from China’s...
China’s 12th Five-Year Plan Lays Out Ambitious Blueprint, But Data Challenges Remain
This post originally appeared on the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy blog. In March, China released its 12th Five-Year Plan – a blueprint outlining the key economic and development targets for the country over the next few years. Unlike previous Plans,...
China's NDRC issues 'barometer' for Regional Energy Goals
This post also appears on ChinaFAQs.org. China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)recently released a “barometer” to show regional progress toward energy conservation goals in the first half of 2011. While the 12th Five-Year Plan announced in March a...
