China has one of the world's biggest economies, biggest populations and it's also the world's largest emitter of carbon emissions. It's a global superpower and its dominance across international affairs is undeniable - a day doesn't go by where the power and influence of China isn't in the news. Yet when Sir David Attenborough called on China to lead climate action in January, I realised I didn't know very much about how China is tackling climate change.
Sir David Attenborough has been vocal about climate action for many years. His almost seventy year long career documenting life on Earth has given him a front row seat to the way the planet's environment and climate are changing. Earlier this month, Attenborough spoke to the BBC, reiterating the urgency of climate action. He made it clear that if real climate action is to happen, we need global giants like China and the US to take the lead.
"If the Chinese come and say …we are going to take major steps to curb our carbon output because our climate is changing…Everyone else would fall into line one thinks. That would be the big change…"- Sir David Attenborough
How does China compare as a global emissions contributor?
China is the largest global emitter of carbon emissions. In 2014, their contribution was measured to be an annual total output at around 12.3 billion tonnes. While China is well on its way to meeting it Paris targets, these targets unfortunately are nowhere near big enough. China's National Bureau of Statistics released their annual data report in early 2018, which says that China's CO2 emissions grew by 2.3% in 2018, and are projected to continue increasing until 2030.
Animation: The countries with the largest cumulative CO2 emissions since 1750
Ranking as of the start of 2019:
1) US – 397GtCO2
2) CN – 214Gt
3) fmr USSR – 180
4) DE – 90
5) UK – 77
6) JP – 58
7) IN – 51
8) FR – 37
9) CA – 32
10) PL – 27 pic.twitter.com/cKRNKO4O0b
— Carbon Brief (@CarbonBrief) April 23, 2019
When considering China's cumulative emissions, they are relatively new contributors. The moving map above shows how China did not become a major player in global emissions until the economic boom in the late '90s and early 2000s.
What is the greatest challenge for China?
China is the biggest producer, consumer and importer of coal in the world. Coal accounts for 58% of the energy used to run a population of 1.4 billion. So without a doubt, China still relies on coal, and moving away from this reliance will be a big challenge. But in the last decade, the fight against dangerous air pollution has meant that China is doing some work to move away from this reliance.
For the last seven years, the world has watched China bounding ahead with new renewable, fossil fuel free technologies, but now it seems China is doing a u-turn and in the last 18 months have built a new coal fired power station every two weeks to boost the Chinese economy. According to Tim Buckley, from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, this is because of the trade war happening between China and the US. For China, minimising pollution from the burning of coal and cutting emissions has always been a top priority, second only to the economy. And that meant that when China's economy was going well, there was a big push towards renewable energy. But now that the economy is threatened because of the trade war, priority number two - the environment and the "war on pollution" - has been all but forgotten.
One thing to note on all the new coal fired power stations being built, is that as they're built, older, less efficient stations are being shut down. Meanwhile, many of the new stations are not being used because they're not financially viable. Across the country, the average coal fired power plant is running only 50% of the time. It's clear that all these new coal fired power plants are being built not so much as part of a long term plan, but instead, as short term stimulus for the economy.
What are they doing right now to reduce emissions ?
While China is still the biggest consumer of coal, and highly reliant on the fossil fuel, it's also the biggest producer of renewable energy in the world. Every year for the last four years, the price of solar power has dropped by 20% in China because they're producing so many panels, causing the price of solar to drop globally, likely affecting, or even causing the rapid spread of solar in the US. In China, where the price of solar power is now on par with coal, the way is clear for them to start increasing the amount of renewables they build into their energy system, and analysts like Tim Buckley expect that this is the way that they'll go. For China, 3% growth in the energy system is currently needed every year, and it's all about making sure that the 3% is pollution and emissions free - so wind, solar, hydro and also nuclear power - to ensure that they gradually move away from coal.
China's capital, Beijing, recently announced ambitious targets to reduce their carbon footprint including a nationwide carbon emissions trading scheme by the end of 2020. They have already ordered eight industrial sectors including oil, steel and shipping, to submit their emissions data before the end of March.
The nation will launch an emissions trading system and regulations imposed on almost 2400 coal and natural gas fired power plants, accounting for almost half of their emissions output.
In addition to moving away from fossil fuels, China is quickly becoming a frontrunner in global offshore wind power with development projects in its Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces, according to Fitch Solutions.
So basically, what happens in China, absolutely does not stay in China. China affects the global prices of different energy sources, and as the biggest emissions producer in the world currently, the entire globe is depending on China to cut its emissions. We need China to keep building renewables at a breakneck pace, so we continue to see the prices drop, and see fossil fuel energy sources become less and less economically viable. If we could see a little more attention being given to little old priority number two in China, the environment and their war on pollution, it would have immense impacts globally.
But if we're not all putting our best foot forward, we can hardly be asking China to lead the way.
We can't all just sit back and wait for China to act. The US is still the biggest emitter in the world, just after China, and the EU comes next. Then there are tiny countries like Costa Rica, knowing what climate change will mean for them, doing everything that they can and currently operating on 100% renewable energy for months at a time. Plus, we've got reasons to make changes for the sake of our own economies. In Australia for example, our third biggest export is thermal coal, the price of which is dropping, and will be 100% out of action by 2050. Countries in positions like this need to be thinking about how they're going to be replacing such huge industries not when those industries can't exist anymore, but now.
Written by Madeleine Achenza
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