CHINA-CLIMATE CHANGE: US-CHINA ECONOMIC AND SECURITY COMMISSION

 Commenting on commitments made by China in Paris on December 12, 2015, at the conference on climate change, the US-China Economic and Security Commission's Economic and Trade Bulletin issued on January 7, 2016, observed that "Since Chinese public concerns over pollution undermine the government's legitimacy, the government has every incentive to take seriously its commitments to address pollution and climate change". At the same expressing doubts about the Chinese government's willingness and ability to carry out necessary changes,  it said China had acknowledged in the run-up to the Paris meeting that it underreported its annual coal consumption since 2000 by up to 17 percent a year. "This revelation", it said, "makes China's pledge to reach peak emissions in 2030 less significant, because the peak may be much higher than anticipated". The bulletin added that a "factor contributing to skepticism is China's continued investment in coal-fired power plants. In the first nine months of 2015 alone, China approved 155 new domestic coal-fired power plants-despite massive coal-driven pollution and severe overcapacity. A New York Times investigation revealed China is also investing in coal-fired power plants abroad: Since 2010, Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have "finished, begun building or formally announced plans to build at least 92 coal-fired power plants in 27 countries."

 






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