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2011-01-04

China’s low-carbon transformation - more effort needed for international agreement and actions

Comments on Jiahua Pan “China’s low-carbon transformation”, 4/01/2011, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2011/01/04/chinas-low-carbon-transformation-2/

This seems to have been written sometime last year, given that it mentioned Copenhagen as last December.

While China's effort should be understood, it would be much more effective internationally if there is a rational, scientific, efficient, effective and equitable international framework on emissions reduction or mitigation.

It seems that a mechanism that incorporates an implicit global carbon price on emissions and an international distribution of the implicit carbon revenue based on equal per capita would make Professor Pan’s argument much more forceful and persuasive.

Countries are always different in many ways. It would be futile and unproductive to argue those differences and therefore it requires special conditions in emissions reduction. Every country can find an argument to suit it.

Carbon emissions and their impact on climate change are typical of negative externalities of emission activities and underpricing of such activities.

Climate is a public good or public property. Everyone person has a right to a climate that would be as good as possible. That is the basis for equal distribution of the implicit global carbon revenue.

Countries have talked about human rights. Emissions and climate change is an important issue of international human rights, or as some would say universal human rights.

Once that is understood, it is not too difficult to develop an international framework on emissions reduction.

How high should the implicit carbon price be? It should be sufficient to achieve the set target of the global emissions level that in turn can achieve the limit for temperature rise by end of century, or whatever the international consensus based on scientific evidence.

PS: media reports shortly after the Copenhagen conference were that China even did not allow other countries (say Germany, as the German Chancellor was alleged to complain about her frustration by China’s tactics) to agree on their target of emissions reduction. What exactly happened there then? If those reports were true, why had China not been prepared for that conference?

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