Chapter 8__________________________________________________________

China’s Energy-Environment Problems and Some Issues Related to
the Post-Kyoto Arrangement
Pang Jun

Introduction
China is a country with a large population, and by the end of 2007 this population had
reached 1.321 billion or approximately one-fifth of the total world population. Since the beginningof reform and opening up, China has achieved rapid economic growth. The GDP of China in 2007
reached RMB 24.95 trillion with a growth rate of 13.0%, see Figure 1. With the in-depth implementation of reform and the gradual improvement of the socialist market economic system,
China’s social vitality and the development of China will be further stimulated. As described in
The Outline of the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Economic & Social Development of the People’s Republic of China (SCPRC, 2006), or the 11th FYP in short, the total population of China will
be kept under 1.36 billion by 2010, and the annual growth rate of GDP will be maintained at 7.5
percent during the 11th FYP period to double the 2000 per capita GDP by 2010.
Undeniably, however, there
Figure 1 The GDP and its growth rate of China, 2001-2007.
are still serious problems in many
areas of China’s society andeconomy. China is, and for a long
period of time, will remain in the
primary stage of socialism with
underdeveloped productivity andsome deep-seated and long-term
contradictions restraining her deSource: China Statistical Yearbook 2008
velopment. For example, theavailable arable land, fresh water, energy and important mineral resources cannot meet the demands, and the ecosystem is fragile. China is in the process of industrialization and urbanization,and it will take 20-30 years or even longer to accomplish the process fully. At present, the problems of rural areas, farmers and agriculture are extremely difficult and the employment pressure isalso a major challenge. Meanwhile, the institutional obstacles that affect China’s development
need to be overcome urgently. In addition, the vast western provinces of China are still very poor,and there are significant differences in the economic development level of different regions; forexample, Shanghai, ranking first in per capita GDP, enjoys a GDP 10 times greater than that in
Guizhou province, which ranks last.
Therefore, China is thus still a developing country, and must make development the top pri-

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Pang Junority. Maintaining a relatively high economic growth rate is an important principle of China’s sustainable development policies; at the same time, some policies such as environmental standards,
the emission charging system and emission trading system have also been adopted in the development process in order to protect the environment and promote China’s sustainable development.
This is determined by the reality of China at this stage. Currently, a higher rate of economic development in China is conducive to many development targets, such as poverty reduction, increasing the socio-economic sustainability, overcoming various macroeconomic risks, maintaining
economic stability, creating a larger middle class and coordinating the gap between the rich and thepoor, thus enhancing the payment capacity of the people and cultivating more efficient market
demand, which is beneficial to reducing social conflicts and improving investment & consumption
demand, and is also beneficial to the implementation of the scientific development philosophy andthe strategic thinking of building a harmonized society.

China’s Energy-environment Problems and Policies
There are dialectical relations of interdependence and interconnection among energy, environment and economy. On the one hand, social progress and economic growth need continuous
development of the energy industry to provide important support, but the method of energy development at the cost of environmental damage is difficult to sustain. On the other hand, if environment problems are solved in isolation without searching for energy development, economic development and social progress will be difficult to continue, and environment protection will also
be lacking in terms of a material basis.
After entering into the 21st century, along with rapid economic growth, energy shortage andenvironment pollution in China are becoming increasingly serious. As a whole, there are four aspects of the energy-environment problems in China, namely (1) air pollution, (2) water pollution,(3) the emission of CO2 in the atmosphere that causes global warming, mainly from the burning ofcoal, and (4) a shortage of future energy supply that relies on exhaustible resources (Gregory C.
Chow, 2007). Environmental pollution from coal combustion is damaging human health, air andwater quality, agriculture and ultimately the economy.
Given the double challenges of energy and environment, it is a natural choice for the Chinese government to save energy and reduce emissions (IOSC, 2007). At the same time, greaterattention has been paid to global warming issues caused by the excessive emission of greenhousegases (GHGs) from human society, and the international community has taken certain measures tocope with climate change (IPCC, 2007). As one of the countries with a higher economic growthrate, China’s GHGs emission have grown continuously during recent years and will take first place
in total GHGs emission in the near future (IEA, 2007). On this occasion, China is facing increasingly strong pressure for GHGs mitigation from international society. Since 2007, the Chinese
government has obviously been more concerned with global climate change, and China has already taken and will continue to take a series of important steps to curb GHGs emissions of theentire country NDRC, 2007). However, as a developing country, China has no legal obligation to- 174 -

China’s Energy-Environment Problems and Some Issues related to the Post-Kyoto Arrangement

GHGs mitigation in the existing international climate regime represented by the Kyoto Protocol.
Therefore, the Chinese government emphasizes adaption and mitigation of climate change under
the overall framework of sustainable development, which means that China will attempt to curb
GHGs emissions while maintaining a steady and healthy social progress and economic development in order to achieve economic targets and environmental benefit simultaneously.

Energy Consumption and Production In China
In the past 12 years, Chinese total energy consumption has grown from 1.31 billion tons ofcoal equivalent in 1995 to 2.66 billion tons of coal equivalent in 2007, see Figure 2. In 2003, therapidity of Chinese energy consumption growth passed the economic growth rate for the first timein over 20 years, and since 1980 the coefficient of energy consumption elasticity has increased
from an average of less than 0.5 to more than 1, reaching 1.59 in 2004, which is the fastest year ofenergy consumption growth for two decades in China since the beginning of reform and opening
up. A comprehensive energy shortage has appeared in China since 2002, especially electric power
shortage. There were 12 provincial electric power networks in 2002, 23 provincial electric power
networks in 2003, 24 to 26 provincial electric power networks in 2004, and 25 provincial power
networks in 2005 that have to apply the brakes to limit electric power consumption. Because investment in the energy industry
Figure 2 Total energy consumption of China, 1995-2007.
has increased recently, the capacity of China’s energy supply has
rapidly enhanced, and power
shortage in China has eased up on
the whole, but energy supply anddemand is still tight, and highuality energy, especially natural
gas and petroleum are in short
Source: China Energy Statistical Yearbook 2008
supply.
Although China has made progress in industrial restructuring in recent years (see Figure 3),
the secondary industry in China remains proportionally high in GDP at present, and in 2006 theproportion of the value added of primary, secondary and tertiary industry was 11.3%, 48.6% and40.1% (NBS, 2008). The domination of the manufacturing industry has led to increasing energy
needs in China. At present, industrial energy consumption accounts for about 70% of the total energy consumption, and in some developed provinces the proportion of energy consumption is evenhigher than 70%. In addition, the energy consumption of transport, storage and postal services has
risen significantly. From 2002 to 2005, the scale of infrastructure construction is surprising; inparticular, the production capacity of energy, transportation and communication facilities has expanded rapidly. Promoting by investment in fixed assets, the scale of industrial production, in particular high energy consumption products, is rapidly enlarging. The rapid increase of imports andexports, especially in the processing trade, promotes the development of steel, nonferrous metal,- 175 -

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Figure 3 Industrial structure of China, 1978-2007
building materials, chemicaland other high energy consumption industries, whichthen leads to dramatic increases in industrial energy
consumption, which is themain reason for the rapid risein the total energy consumpSource: China Statistical Yearbook 2008
tion in China recently.
Considering the structure of energy, China is rich in coal resources, and coal dominated in
the total energy consumption of China in 2007 where the proportion of coal reached 69.5% in the
primary energy structure of China, see Figure 4. The energy structure of China determines theelectricity structure that is also dominated by coal. In 2007, in the energy structure of electric
power generation, hydropower accounted for 14.79%, thermal power whose main fuel is coal accounted for 82.98%, and nuclear power accounted for 1.89%, see Figure 5.
Figure 4 The percentage of primary energy
production of China in 2007

Figure 5 China’s electricity structure in 2007

Source: China Energy Statistical Yearbook 2008

Source: China Energy Statistical Yearbook 2008

Air Pollution in China
The air quality in China, especially in urban areas, is among the most polluted in the world.
A report released in 1998 by the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that of the ten mostpolluted cities in the world, seven can be found in China. Sulfur dioxide and soot caused by coal
combustion are two major air pollutants, resulting in the formation of acid rain, which now falls on
about 30% of China’s total land area. Industrial boilers and furnaces consume almost half ofChina’s coal and are the largest single sources of urban air pollution. The rest of pollution is due tothe burning of coal for cooking and heating in many cities.
The energy structure is dominated by coal in China, and particularly in recent years, rapid
economic development has resulted in the constant increase of coal consumption. Although
newly-built coal-burning power plants are equipped with desulfurization units, the pollution problems caused by coal burning, in particular air pollution problems, are still serious, which has led to- 176 -

China’s Energy-Environment Problems and Some Issues related to the Post-Kyoto Arrangement

the objectives of environmental pollution treatment not being achieved effectively in the social andeconomic development goals established during the 10th FYP. For quite some time to come, coal
will still be the primary energy of China, and the consumption of coal will continue to increase,which will cause great difficulties for air pollution treatment in China.
Figures 6 and 7 show the emissions of SO2 and soot in China in recent years. In 2007,
China’s total SO2 and soot emissions were 24.6 million tons and 9.8 million tons respectively, andthereinto industrial SO2 emissions are 21.4 million tons, accounting for 86.7% of the total SO2
emissions in the entire country. Long-term heavy SO2 emissions lead to serious SO2 and acid rainpollution in China.
Figure 6 SO2 emission in China 2001～2007(Unit: 10,000 tons)

Figure 7 Soot emission in China 2001～2007(Unit: 10,000 tons)

Source: China Environmental Statistical Yearbook 2008

Source: China Environmental Statistical Yearbook 2008

Another major source of air pollution came from the use of diesel oil and gasoline in thetransportation sector. The vehicle population in China has been growing rapidly over the past decade and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future, which will lead to serious air pollution problems, especially in urban areas.

Water Pollution in China
At present, water pollution is still one of China’s most critical environmental problems. Figure 8 shows the wastewater discharge of China in recent years. Of the water resources monitored
at the national level in 2007, 50.1 per cent of major rivers and 71.5 per cent of lakes and reservoirs
fell into or below the worst two of China's five water quality classes (MEP, 2008a). Under China's
water quality standards, such water is classed as unfit for human contact or industrial use. Poor
water quality exacerbates water scarcity, which is severe in some parts of China — water pollution
is highest, and water availability lowest, in northern China, where some areas have only 4 per centof the world’s average availability of water per person. As a result, about one quarter of the population does not have access to water that will not cause health impacts. China's water pollution
accidents have been increasing in recent years, especially since 2006, and the Taihu Lake, Chaohu- 177 -

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Figure 8 Waste water discharge in China 2001～2007
Lake, Dianchi Lake, having consecutive large-scale outbreaks of cyanobacteria, as well as a number of important drinking water sources arebeing polluted, seriously affecting
people's production, life and social
stability.
Key causes of water pollution
Source: China Environmental Statistical Yearbook 2008
in rural China are agricultural production methods and rural industry,
particularly the Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs). In the cities of China, water quality isthreatened by the discharge of untreated industrial effluent and sewage into waterways, since about
half of China's cities lack sewage treatment facilities.

GHGs Emissions in China
According to the Initial National Communication on Climate Change of the People's Republic of China, the country's total greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions in 1994 were 4,060 million tonsof carbon dioxide equivalents. Its total GHG emissions in 2004 was about 6,100 carbon dioxide
equivalent, of which 5,050 million tons were carbon dioxide, 720 million were carbon dioxide
equivalent of methane and 330 million were carbon dioxide equivalent of nitrous oxide. From1994 to 2004, the average annual growth rate of GHG emissions was around 4 percent, and theshare of carbon dioxide in total GHGs emissions increased from 76 percent to 83 percent.
In addition to industrial energy needs, rising living standards have resulted in greater energy
demands in the transport and building sectors in China. Because of the rapid growth of total energy
consumption, especially the explosion of coal consumption, China’s GHGs emissions have also
increased dramatically, see Figure 8. At present, the energy development of China is facing increasingly serious environmental constraints.
Figure 8 Total fossil fuel CO2 emission in China, 1974-2004.

Source: http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov- 178 -

China’s Energy-Environment Problems and Some Issues related to the Post-Kyoto Arrangement

China’s Environmental Policies
From the 1980s, the Chinese government assumed environmental protection as a basic national policy. In 1984, the National Environmental Protection Committee was established. In 1989,
the first Environmental Protection Law was promulgated. In 1992, after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), China was one of the first countries to establish and implement the sustainable development strategies. In 1993, the Environment and Resources Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee was officiallyestablished. So far, the National People’s Congress and the State Council have promulgated 8 laws
related to environmental protection, 14 laws on natural resources management and 34 regulations
on environmental protection in total, and the different levels of environmental protection departments have introduced over 90 national environmental protection standards and more than 1,020
local environmental protection regulations, so that the environmental legal system in China is becoming increasingly mature.
Because of rapid economic growth, and the economic development mode with the characteristics of high consumption and high pollution, China’s environmental problems are becoming
progressively more obvious. Since the 21st Century, the Chinese government has argued that it is anatural choice to implement a green strategy for sustainable economic development in China. The
content of the green strategy is as follows: developing a recycling economy and improving theefficiency of resource utilization; developing cleaner production and lowering pollution cost during the process of production; developing green consumption and reducing the ecological damage
during the process of consumption; developing new energy and achieving industrial ecologicalcivilization.
China has been dedicated to controlling SO2 emissions and reducing air pollution for many
years, and the major measures include establishing SO2 control zones and acid rain control zones,
imposing discharge fees on SO2, adopting flue gas desulphurization for burning boilers and soforth. At present, remarkable results have been achieved by these measures such that new datashows in 2007 total SO2 emissions in China dropped 4.66% more than in 2006 (MEP, 2008b),
which was the first time that total SO2 emissions had decreased in the past few decades.
In recent years, the Chinese government has further strengthened efforts to deal with climatechange, founded the National Leading Group to Address Climate Change headed by premier Wen
Jiabao, and published China’s National Climate Change Programme and China's Scientific &Technological Actions on Climate Change. In addition, the Chinese government enacted the Comprehensive Work Program on Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction, and took compulsory measures and policies including closing small thermal power plants to reduce domestic energy consumption.
In the 11th FYP, China has clearly set forth its main goals for environmental protection for
the next five years: by 2010, while the national economy will maintain a relatively stable and fast
growth, the environmental quality of key regions and cities will be improved, and the trend toward
ecological deterioration will be brought under control. The 11th FYP also requires energy con-

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Pang Junsumption per unit of GDP to decline by 20 percent, compared with the end of the 10th Five-Year
Plan period. The total amount of major pollutants discharged will be reduced by ten percent, andforest coverage will be raised from 18.2 percent to 20 percent.
In general, the environmental policies adopted in China at present are dominated by command-and-control measures. Although market-based measures have aroused extensive concern insociety, there is still a lack of practical application. However, it can be predicted that there will be
more environmental economic policies and measures to be adopted along with the economic development and constant improvement of the market economy system in China.

Some Issues Related To Post-Kyoto Arrangements
Integrative climate change policies and development policies
Climate change policies are more effective if they are integrated. At present, many countries
especially developing countries’ awareness of climate issues is increasing, but the economic costsof climate protection measures, juxtaposed with the significant scientific uncertainties about theextent and impacts of climate change have generally favored a “wait-and-see” attitude on the partof policy makers, which directly leads to the reality that only slow progress has been made inglobal climate policy negotiations. The situation is also compounded in developing countries by
the rightful preoccupation with meeting basic domestic requirements. So determining the best way
to link climate change policy with developmental policy is a very important issue that should beconsidered carefully in China.
Firstly, one method that combines the development policies with the climate change policies
in China is to identify areas of overlap. For example, policies that attempt to improve energy efficiency can also reduce CO2 emissions and lead to better urban air quality, so the additive utilities
on climate issues are the area where most overlap occurs. Meanwhile, forestation will not only
increase carbon sinks, but also protect the ecology, and these additive utilities on sustainable development issues are also overlapping areas. Therefore, combining the development policies withthe climate change policies on the basis of these overlapping areas will be the best method.
Secondly, a series of indicators that can measure the achievements being made in these overlapping areas should be set up, and these indicators should be absorbed into the national strategies
and the local development plans so that the climate change policies and the development policies
can be integrated into national economic strategies.
Finally, relevant policies should be developed and enacted based on the above works andshould be suitable for the national economic strategies as well as those indicators. In this way, thepolicies will take effect in the overlapping areas because the two objectives of climate protectionand economic development are all taken into account.
This is because only in overlapping areas would the stakeholders have the incentives to develop and implement these policies. The Mid-to-Long Term Special Plan for Energy Conservation(NDRC, 2004) enacted by the Chinese government is a good example of balancing the interests
between economic development and climate protection, which will not only improve energy effi-- 180 -

China’s Energy-Environment Problems and Some Issues related to the Post-Kyoto Arrangement

ciency, but also reduce CO2 emissions. In addition, this plan will also contribute to the industrial
structure adjustment, energy security enhancement as well as local environmental quality improvement. Therefore, this plan is a policy that will be of benefit to local governments, enterprises
and the public at the same time, so these stakeholders will also promote the implementation of thispolicy actively.
In addition to establishing links between different policies, the different levels (local level,
national level and international level) of the policy (including poverty or climate change policies)
should be linked, and the following should be performed in order to achieve this target: Firstly,
between the international level and the national level, it is still important to shape decisions, conventions, and agreements on the basis of bilateral or multilateral relationships. Secondly, between
the national level and the local level, it will be more effective to enact national strategy or national
programs. States can influence the local strategy via the demonstration effect of the national
strategies. Furthermore, the State can adopt and pursue some pilot projects or demonstration projects, as well as local capacity-building (including training, information sharing). It can on the one
hand provide incentives for local stakeholders and on the other hand diffuse information about
poverty reduction and climate change, which will influence local decision-making eventually. As
above, this process must be of benefit to all stakeholders and more attention should be paid to theoverlapping areas. Additionally, the international level could also be linked to the local level directly via the national level, such as direct technological or financial assistance to local areas. At
present, China is introducing the climate change policy to local areas and local strategies for addressing climate change in some provinces have been enacted. In fact, some relevant policies suchas poverty reduction and disaster mitigation have already been implemented successfully at the
local level. China thinks that local economic realities should be considered firstly when shaping
national climate policy, i.e. consider how to integrate local economic policy and national climatechange policy.
Of course, it is not sufficient to simply have good policies because they should be implemented successfully, especially at the local level or at the project level. In order to achieve thistarget, first of all, these policies should be given judicial significance so that the relevant stakeholders will be bound under the legal restrictions and ensure the implementation of these policies;
Secondly, local capacity building should be strengthened via training or other means in order toincrease public and local awareness of the climate change problems, thus increasing the possibilityof self-conscious implementation; Thirdly, having adequate technical and financial support in theinitial stage of policies implementation should be ensured, which is also a field in which Chinaneeds the support of the international community.
Good policies must also be policies that are adjusted and changing all the time to adapt tothe changing needs of the people and the real policy circumstances. Therefore, it is very importantin the national policy-making process to obtain effective information feedback smoothly from thelocal and the national community. In this regard, the stakeholders’ participation should be
strengthened during the policy-making process through holding public hearings, people's congresses at all levels and so forth.

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For the developing countries: goal-oriented or process-oriented
Climate change is one of the most serious challenges to humanity in the 21st century and amatter of human survival and the development of all countries, which requires cooperation andjoint efforts by the international community. Annex-I countries should take the lead to shoulder
more responsibility according to Article 3.9 of the UNFCCC. Specifically, aiming at stabilizing the
GHGs concentration in the atmosphere, there are two types of schemes in “beyond 2012” in China
at present, which can be summarized as goal-oriented and process-oriented, differing in the ways
to achieve it. The goal-oriented scheme emphasizes the use of indicators to influence the distribution of emission reductions among countries. Whereas the process-oriented scheme emphasizes theconcrete needs in the process of the UNFCCC implementation and pays more attention to certain
special topics such as technology cooperation and development. Comparing the two schemes, thegoal-oriented scheme has a clear goal of total amount control but no concrete measures to achieve
it, accompanied by uncertainty and very low political feasibility; while the process-oriented
scheme has a direct impact on the process and more political acceptability but risks still exist because of no specific goal.
Past experience in the first commitment period have proven that the goal-oriented scheme isimplemented unsatisfactorily, and the reasons for this situation may include involvement in someunsolvable political issues and the difficulty in assuring the equity of quota distribution. Comparatively, the process-oriented scheme emphasizes the importance of technology transfer, and has
been proposed by other Chinese officials and scholars at many important international occasions.
Thus, this scheme can be considered as being unanimously approved in Chinese political and academic circles. It is even more crucial that the process-oriented scheme can bypass the deadlock of
quota, so it is a feasible alternative scheme at present since many countries have no strong political
will to reduce the GHGs emissions via the measure of quota allocation. Therefore, China would
rather adopt the process-oriented scheme than adopt the goal-oriented scheme.
Technology transfer under the UNFCCC framework
At present, China is experiencing rapid economic growth with gradually rising purchasing
power for advanced technologies, but the high prices of these advanced technologies and the political restrictions in developed countries result in the very low possibility of technology transferfrom developed countries to China. At the same time, China is still in the mid-stage of industrialization with the character of high energy consumption, and China’s urbanization process will also
last for many years with massive construction demands for infrastructure. In this situation, if advanced climate sound technology cannot be applied in time, the technological “lock-in” effect willlead to the result that current higher GHGs emissions will last for several decades in China.
Therefore, China’s sustainable development strategy is encountering a technical bottleneck.
The following divides the emissions into three factors: GHGs emissions per GDP, GDP per
capita and population. For developing countries, as a whole the population will still increase for along time in the years to come, and developing countries will make efforts to promote the economic development and increase the GDP per capita. So the GHGs emissions per GDP is the only

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China’s Energy-Environment Problems and Some Issues related to the Post-Kyoto Arrangement

factor that can be decreased in order to decrease the emissions of GHGs. In order to achieve thistarget, developing countries should improve the economic structure and increase the economic
efficiency, and technology progress will play a key role in this course. Therefore, technology
transfer from developed countries is very important for the reduction of GHGs emissions in developing countries.

Technology transfer under the UNFCCC framework can be based on the theory of externality because of the “public goods” feature of the global atmosphere. In general, when there aregoods, services, and resources that people can obtain without paying for them at a market equilibrium price, inefficiency will be the result. The term for this in economics is "externality." Global
climate change is a typical issue of environmental externality, and there will be a “market failure”
if international society wants to realize sufficient climate sound technology transfer from developed countries to developing countries merely by use of the market mechanism.
Generally speaking, the government should and can be responsible for the supply of public
goods. However, the atmosphere as global public goods has its own peculiarity because there is no“global government” to protect the global atmosphere, let alone solve the problem using public
policies that are based on the state sovereignty. In this situation, international environmental
agreements as a type of effective mechanism can play an important role in solving this kind ofinternational externality. It will have two aspects of effects whereby developed countries transfer
the climate sound technology to developing countries under the UNFCCC framework. On the one
hand, developed countries will offset the global climate externality cost brought by them in theirindustrialization process; on the other hand, developing countries will avoid inflicting new stresseson the global climate system in the process of their economic development. Therefore，both developed countries and developing countries can enjoy the global climate welfare, and in essence
this is a process whereby international society protects and creates the global public goods together,See Figure 1.
The purpose of technology transfer
Figure 1 Technology transfer under the UNFCCC
framework: a win-win solution
under the UNFCCC framework is to protect the atmosphere system of the Earthand achieve all mankind’s sustainable development. Technology transfer under the
UNFCCC framework is a win-win solution for the global climate change protection between developing countries anddeveloped countries. On the one hand,developing countries can change the traditional economic growth mode, increase theSource: Zou Ji, et al. 2008
energy efficiency and improve the energy- 183 -

Pang Junstructure with the support of imported environmentally sound technologies from developed countries, thus reducing the air pollution in developing countries and achieving the target of protecting
the climate and environment; on the other hand, developed countries may enjoy a much cleaner
global atmosphere system due to the environmentally sound technology transfer to developing
countries. In addition, technology transfer under the UNFCCC framework is also very important
for avoiding the technological “lock-in” effect in developing countries.

Principle and Objective Of The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference1
I. Principles
1. The UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol as the Basis and the Mandate of the Bali Roadmap
as the Focus. The UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol constitute the basic framework and legal basis
for international cooperation to address climate change, which embody the consensus of the international community and serve as the foundation governing the implementation of the Bali Roadmap. The Bali Roadmap affirms the mandate to enhance the implementation of the UNFCCC and
its Kyoto Protocol, which is, on the one track, to secure the full, effective and sustained implementation of the UNFCCC by making corresponding arrangements in terms of mitigation, adaption, technology transfer and financial support and, on the other track, to determine further quantified emission reduction targets for developed countries for the second commitment period under
the Kyoto Protocol.
2. The Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities. Developed countries shalltake responsibility for their historical cumulative emissions and current high per capita emissions
to change their unsustainable way of life and to substantially reduce their emissions and, at thesame time, to provide financial support and transfer technology to developing countries. Developing countries will, in pursuing economic development and poverty eradication, take proactive
measures to adapt to and mitigate climate change.
3. The Principle of Sustainable Development. Sustainable development is both the means
and the end of effectively addressing climate change. Within the overall framework of sustainable
development, economic development, poverty eradication and climate protection should be considered in a holistic and integrated manner so as to reach a win-win solution and to ensure developing countries secure their right to development.
4. Mitigation, Adaptation, Technology Transfer and Financial Support on the Same Footing
and as Equal Priorities. Mitigation and adaptation are integral components of combating climatechange and should be given equal treatment. Compared with mitigation that is an arduous taskover a longer time horizon, the need for adaptation is more real and urgent in developing countries.
Financing and technology are indispensable means to achieve mitigation and adaptation. The fulfillment of commitments by developed countries to provide financing, technology transfer and1

This part is extracted from the official document released by the Chinese government on May 20, 2009. The titleof the document is “Implementation on the Bali Roadmap-China's Position on the Copenhagen Climate Change
Conference” and the full text is available at the website: http://en.ndrc.gov.cn/newsrelease/t20090521_280382.htm.

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China’s Energy-Environment Problems and Some Issues related to the Post-Kyoto Arrangement

capacity building support to developing countries is a condition sine qua non for developing countries to effectively mitigate and adapt to climate change.
II. Objective
The objective of the Copenhagen Climate Conference is to further enhance the full, effective
and sustained implementation of the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol and to reach a positive outcome, focusing on making concrete arrangements for mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer
and financial support:
1. To set deeper quantified emission reduction targets for developed countries for the second
commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, and to ensure comparability of quantified emission
reduction commitments by developed countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol and thosethat are not;2. To establish effective institutional arrangements to ensure that developed countries are
fulfilling their commitments to provide technology, financing and capacity building support todeveloping countries;
3. To enable developing countries to take nationally appropriate mitigation and adaptation
actions, in the context of sustainable development, supported by technology, financing and capacity building from developed countries.

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