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China has been criticized in some quarters as the spoiler of last year’s Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. Its steadfast refusal to allow international monitoring of its greenhouse gas emissions thwarted efforts to reach a meaningful international agreement, causing many commentators to accuse China of pursuing a strategy of economic development at all costs.

But there are also voices emanating from China that strongly urge Beijing to take this historic opportunity to tackle the challenge of climate change and assert the country’s global leadership in green and renewable technologies. One of the leading voices in this chorus is Hu Angang of Tsinghua University in Beijing. He is one of the country’s most respected and cited economists and an influential author of a series of books and reports that seek to provide policy remedies to address many of China’s problems on its long march to be great again.

In his latest book, “China Confronting Global Climate Change,” Hu argues for an innovative solution to deal with China’s dilemma in meeting the challenge of climate change.

How does the country reconcile the seemingly conflicting objectives of emissions reduction, industrialization and economic development?

Given that China is not only the world’s largest energy producer, but also the largest emitter of anthropogenic, global warming-inducing carbon dioxide, China must assume the grave responsibility of tackling the challenge of climate change. Despite the glittering modern facade of mega-metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai, and the mind-boggling statistics of China’s economic achievement, it is still a developing country with a vast swath of hinterland yet to be touched by industrialization.

In addition, China has a very fragile environment that is burdened with an enormous population. It is a main victim of climate change-induced natural disasters such as floods. Therefore, the country must actively seek an international solution to this problem.

On the other hand, the current of domestic opinion in China has yet to reach a consensus on conflicting aims between growth and climate change. Many still see the key role of the state as delivering economic growth and reducing poverty.

Hu proposes an emission reduction scheme that is applicable internationally as well as domestically, based on the principles of fairness and efficiency. He challenges the traditional dichotomy of developed versus developing countries in the climate change debate with four new divisions based on the Human Development Index. He argues that major emitters, including the United States and China, should bear the brunt of responsibility for reducing emissions.

In his work, Hu points out that as of 2006, there were 70 countries with 1.6 billion people in the first division, or highest level, of the HDI, representing 25.5 percent of the world’s population. He says this should be the main group responsible for reducing emissions, and that it should be mandatory for this group to devise a unified, multilateral plan to achieve that goal.

Of the top 20 emitters in the world, 14 belong to the first division of the HDI, and Hu says their reductions should be made mandatory. There are five countries belonging to the second division of the HDI, and they should be subject to conditional emission reductions. Of the top 20 emitters, only India is in the third division of the HDI, and it should be encouraged to actively pursue an emission reduction strategy.

Such divisions are not carved in stone and are subject to change as countries move up the ladder to a higher level of development. For example, once a country moves from the second to the first division, its emission reduction effort would become no longer conditional but mandatory.

Hu also divided different regions and provinces of China into four divisions according to the HDI. His plan to link emission reduction efforts to the Human Development Index is an alternative way to bridge the old divide between developed and developing countries in the debate over the respective responsibility for climate change.

The additional principle of the inclusion of major emitters in any global emission reduction framework would also ensure that major emitters from the developing world would shoulder a fair share of their responsibility depending on their available resources.

We ought to pay more attention to voices from China on the issue of climate change, especially from someone as distinguished and influential as Hu Angang.



Peter Yuan Cai , a doctoral candidate in modern Chinese history and political economy at Adelaide University, is currently a visiting scholar at Australian National University.

East Asia Forum