Reflection and operationalization of the common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities principle in the transparency framework under the international climate change regime

“Common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”(CBDRRC) is the most significant guiding principle in the international climate change regime, created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 and inherited by the Paris Agreement 24 years later. This paper examines the operationalization of the CBDRRC principle in one of the cornerstone rules of the regimedits transparency provisions, both in existing practice under the convention and possible evolvement in negotiations under the Paris Agreement, from the perspectives of both international rule-making and domestic implementation. The authors have found a continuous enhancement of the transparency framework since the 1990s, and gradual consolidation of a bifurcated system between developed and developing countries into a common one. The authors argue that the transparency framework, as part of the procedural rules, should be designed to facilitate transparent information sharing in accordance with substantive commitments under international climate change laws. Thus, it indirectly reflects historical responsibilities for climate change, while the framework should also be designed as feasible and reflective of the respective capabilities of nations. Finally, the evolution of the transparency framework will aim to enact common and enhanced provisions while differentiating between developed and developing countries in the near term, and greater transparency-related capacity-building for developing countries.

Research on China’s technology lists for addressing climate change

The compilation of technology lists addressing climate change has a guiding effect on promoting technological research and development,demonstration,and popularization.It is also crucial for China to strengthen ecological civilization construction,achieve the carbon emission peak and carbon neutrality target,and enhance global climate governance capabilities.This study first proposes the existing classification outline of the technology promotion lists,technology demand lists,and future technology lists.Then,different methodologies are integrated on the basis of the existing outline of four technology lists:China’s existing technological promotion list for addressing climate change,China’s demand list for climate change mitigation technology,China’s key technology list for addressing climate change,and China’s future technology list for addressing climate change.What’s more,core technologies are analyzed in the aspects of technology maturity,carbon reduction cost,carbon reduction potential,economic benefits,social influence,uncertainty,etc.The results show that:key industries and sectors in China already have relatively mature mitigation/adaptation technologies to support the achievement of climate change targets.The multi-sectoral system of promoting climate friendly technologies has been established,which has played an active role in tackling climate change.Currently,climate technology needs are concentrated in the traditional technology and equipment upgrading,renewable energy technology,and management decision-making support technology.The key technologies are concentrated in 3 major areas and 12 technological directions that urgently need a breakthrough.For carbon emmission peak and nentrality,carbon depth reduction and zero carbon emissions and geoengineering technology(CDR and SRM)have played an important role in forming the structure of global emissions and achieving carbon neutrality in the future.Thus,the uncertainty assessment for the comprehensive technology cost effectiveness,technology integration direction,technical maturity,ethics and ecological impacts is supportive to the national technology strategy.Finally,the presented study proposes several policy implications for medium-and long-term technology deployment,improving technology conversion rate,promoting the research and development of core technologies,and forming a technology list collaborative update and release mechanism.

The 2 ℃ Global Temperature Target and the Evolution of the Long-TermGoal of Addressing Climate Change-From the United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change to the Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement proposed to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 ℃ abovepre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 ℃ above pre-industriallevels. It was thus the first international treaty to endow the 2 ℃ global temperature target with legal effect.The qualitative expression of the ultimate objective in Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change （UNFCCC） has now evolved into the numerical temperature rise target in Article 2 of theParis Agreement. Starting with the Second Assessment Report （SAR） of the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-mate Change （IPCC）, an important task for subsequent assessments has been to provide scientific informa-tion to help determine the quantified long-term goal for UNFCCC negotiation. However, due to involvementin the value judgment within the scope of non-scientific assessment, the IPCC has never scientifically af-firmed the unacceptable extent of global temperature rise. The setting of the long-term goal for addressingclimate change has been a long process, and the 2 ℃ global temperature target is the political consensuson the basis of scientific assessment. This article analyzes the evolution of the long-term global goal foraddressing climate change and its impact on scientific assessment, negotiation processes, and global low-carbon development, from aspects of the origin of the target, the series of assessments carried out by the 1PCCfocusing on Article 2 of the UNFCCC, and the promotion of the global temperature goal at the political level.

The gap report of global climate change mitigation, finance, and governance after the United States declared its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

On 1 June 2017, the US President Donald Trump officially announced the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, thus the study on the reasons of withdrawal, the potential impacts, and coping strategies has become a focus among policy circles and of the international community. Based on the self-developed US Policy Assessment Model, this paper systematically evaluates the three potential "major deficits" in terms of mitigation, climate finance, and global climate governance, as a result of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and puts forward policy suggestions for coping with such transformations accordingly. The study shows that the United States 'withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will affect the existence and implementation of successive climate policies and result in an additional 8.8-13.4% increase in the global emissions reduction deficit.The United States' withdrawal will also deteriorate the existing climate finance mechanism. The Green Climate Fund(GCF)'s funding gap will increase by US$2 billion, while the gap of long-term climate finance will increase by about US$5 billion a year. Either the China-EU or the "BASIC plus" mechanism could fill the governance deficit caused by the United States and the lack of political momentum may continue for a while in the future.

Future of global governance and climate change action in a changing political landscape

1.Editor's note On 30 November 2016,the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy(BTC),Caixin Video,and Columbia Global Centers(Beijing)jointly hosted a Seminar on the Future of Global Governance and Climate Change Action in a Changing Political Landscape.Leading experts on China's environmental policy and

Developing a Green Economy in Response to Climate Change

CLIMATE change is a global issue.The spike in carbon dioxide emissions worldwide incurred by burning fossil fuels has hampered the sustainable development of the world’s economy,society,and eco-environment,and consequently prompted nations all over the world

Modeling an emissions peak in China around 2030: Synergies or trade-offs between economy, energy and climate security

China has achieved a political consensus around the need to transform the path of economic growth toward one that lowers carbon intensity and ultimately leads to reductions in carbon emissions,but there remain different views on pathways that could achieve such a transformation.The essential question is whether radical or incremental reforms are required in the coming decades.This study explores relevant pathways in China beyond 2020,particularly modeling the major target choices of carbon emission peaking in China around 2030 as China-US Joint Announcement by an integrated assessment model for climate change IAMC based on carbon factor theory.Here scenarios DGS-2020,LGS2025,LBS-2030 and DBS-2040 derived from the historical pathways of developed countries are developed to access the comprehensive impacts on the economy,energy and climate security for the greener development in China.The findings suggest that the period of 2025e2030 is the window of opportunity to achieve a peak in carbon emissions at a level below 12 Gt CO2and 8.5 t per capita by reasonable trade-offs from economy growth,annually 0.2%in average and cumulatively 3%deviation to BAU in 2030.The oil and natural gas import dependence will exceed 70%and 45%respectively while the non-fossil energy and electricity share will rise to above 20%and 45%.Meantime,the electrification level in end use sectors will increase substantially and the electricity energy ratio approaching 50%,the labor and capital productivity should be double in improvements and the carbon intensity drop by 65%by 2030 compared to the 2005 level,and the cumulative emission reductions are estimated to be more than 20 Gt CO2in 2015e2030.

Chinese Public's Willingness to Pay for CO＿2 Emissions Reductions: A Case Study from Four Provinces/Cities

Contingent Valuation Method(CVM) was used to investigate the Chinese public's willingness to pay(WTP) for a policy to reduce CO2 emissions. Face to face interviews were conducted to collect 1,653 valid questionnaires from Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong province, and Fujian province. A model was constructed to understand the factors that influence WTP. The results indicate that the Chinese public is willing to pay CN 201.86 annually to support the policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Participants from Beijing show the highest WTP, followed by participants from Fujian and Shandong, while those from Shanghai report the lowest WTP. The findings reveal that participants with higher income, higher satisfaction with their current life, and awareness of climate issues are willing to pay more for CO2 emissions reductions. In addition, those who are young, male and members of the Communist Party also indicate a higher WTP. The results imply that translating the public's willingness to protect climate into actions should be taken into account in China's low carbon policy. There is a need to consider the difference in degree of willingness, among different social groups, to pay for emissions reductions if the market-based mechanisms such as carbon tax were designed to facilitate emissions reductions.

Global climate governance in the new era:Potential of business actors and technological innovation

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC)has established a climate governance mechanism with intergovernmental negotiations among sovereign states as the core.After nearly 30 years,progress in combating climate change has remained very modest compared with the numerous challenges raised.The global climate governance has entered a new era,such that incorporating other factors into the governance process is timely.Therefore,the study emphasizes technological innovation and business actors in climate governance after the Paris Agreement.Technological innovation can provide effective solutions for combating climate change and has been a crucial driving force in climate governance's evolution.Business actors are significant because they are actual implementers of technological innovation and can apply different types of power and influence on climate governance processes at various levels.In summary,business actors,as well as technological innovation in line with governments and the UNFCCC governance frameworks,create a new potential for climate governance in the new era.

China＇s Climate Policy and Carbon Market Outlook in the Post-Paris Era

The Paris Agreement adopted by all parties at Paris Climate Conference(COP21)marks the beginning of new global cooperation efforts to address climate change.But as Chinese President Xi Jinping said,"The Paris Agreement is not an end,but a new starting point.’’In the 23 years since the United Nations Environment and Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil,in 1992,both

China and U.S. Unite for a Greener World

THE heads of state of China and the U.S.issued on September 25,2015 a joint statement on climate change,so following up on their last joint announcement in September 2014during the APEC meeting.The joint presidential statement reaffirmed a common stance and action in three respects:the Paris Climate Change Conference,countermeasures to climate change,and strengthening cooperation.

Striving for Ecological Advancement

AIR,soil,and water–the basic elements of the ecological system–are not simply substances for human beings to survive on,but also indispensable natural resources critical to economic and social progress.Therefore,strengthening the control of pollution and facilitating the restoration of polluted air,soil,and water,play a vital role for China’s sustainable development.New Responsibility of National Development

Index for climate change adaptation in China and its application

With the increasing awareness of the risks and impacts of climate change, scholars tend to pay more attention to the applications of indicators, which access the effectiveness of climate change adaptation. This study aims to evaluate the overall progress of climate change adaptation in China during 2010–2018 in a quantitative manner. The Index for Climate Change Adaptation in China (ICCAC) has been thus developed by adopting the analytic hierarchy process weighting and expert scoring method. Namely, ICCAC is composed of national climate change impacts, adaptation actions in key sectors, adaptation progress in key sectors, and the national adaptation policy framework. Overall, the ICCAC and its four sub-indexes increased significantly from 2010 to 2018, on a yearly-basis. Each sub-index implied that the socio-economic impacts caused by climate change in China have been alleviated gradually;specifically, the mainstream endeavor of key sectors has witnessed remarkable progress, however, it is worth noting that the gap between individual adaptation actions and policies still exists;the implementation effect of policies in key sectors is not as affluent as that of actions;the current adaptation endeavor in key areas is still closely related to the mainstream business of corresponding competent ministries rather than adaptation-aimed actions;the national adaptation policy framework has been primarily formed, but there are still some deficiencies. As a result, the gap in China's adaptation process could be mainly manifested in the following five aspects: i) adaptation effectiveness assessment in forestry and urban infrastructure is urgently needed;ii) policies in marine and water resources sectors need structural reforms;iii) evaluation criteria for national adaptation are not necessarily sufficient;iv) the improvement of adaptive management efficiency has stagnated recently;and v) the adaptation works of relevant Ministries should be coordinated and put forward the corresponding strategies. Finally, this study presents four proposals: conducting an evaluation of adaptation actions in all key sectors, integrating climate change impacts into sectoral planning decisions, launching concrete action plans for adaptation, establishing a complete policy framework on adaptation.

Carbon emission scenarios of China's power sector:Impact of controlling measures and carbon pricing mechanism

The study constructs a low-carbon path analysis model of China's power sector based on TIMES model and presents a comparative analysis of carbon emissions under Reference,Low-Carbon and Enhanced Low-Carbon scenarios,and the main difference of the three scenarios is manifested by policy selection and policy strength.The conclusions are drawn as follows:(1)The peak of carbon emission in China's power sector will range from 4.0 GtCO2 to 4.8 GtCO2,which implies an increment of 0.5e1.3 billion or 14%e35%from the 2015 levels.(2)Introducing carbon price is an effective way to inhibit coal power and promote non-fossil fuels and Carbon Capture,Utilization and Storage applications(CCUS).The carbon emission reduction effects will gradually increase with carbon price.When the carbon price attains to CN￥150 t
1CO2,the CO2 emission can decrease by 36%than that without carbon price.(3)CCUS is one of important contributing factor to reduce CO2 emission in power sector.Generally speaking,the development of non-fossil fuels and energy efficiency improvement are two main drivers for carbon mitigation,but once the carbon price reaches up to CN￥106 t
1CO2,the CCUS will be required to equip with thermal power units and its contribution on carbon emission reduction will remarkably increase.When carbon price increases to CN￥150 t
1CO2 in 2050,the application of CCUS will account for 44%of total emission reduction.(4)In the scenario with carbon price of CN￥150 t
1CO2,power sector would be decarbonized significantly,and the CO2 intensity will be 0.22 kgCO2(kW h)
1,but power sector is far from the goal that achieving net zero emission.In order to realize the long-term low greenhouse gas emission development goal that proposed by the Paris Agreement,more efforts are needed to be put to further reduce the carbon emission reduction of power sector.Based on the above scenario analysis,the study proposes four recommendations on the low-carbon development of China's power sector:(1)improve the energy efficiency proactively and optimize the energy structure of power sector gradually;(2)promote the low-carbon transition of power sector by using market-based mechanism like carbon emission trading scheme to internalize the external cost of carbon emission;(3)give more emphasis on and support to the CCUS application in power sector.

Development path of Chinese low-carbon cities based on index evaluation

这个工作作为研究对象从瓷器低碳的试验性项目拿 36 个城市并且使用人均的碳排放和人均的 GDP 把 36 个城市分成四种类型揭示他们的低碳的开发地位；这四种类型是领先的城市，开发城市，迟到者城市，和探索城市。根据一个索引系统，那份量上描述低碳的开发，这研究分析特征，发展趋势，和城市的四种类型的低碳的发展小径。根据国家排出物并且就在为城市的每种类型的发展阶段，挑战，和机会的差别而言的现在的状况和目的，这研究为低碳的路线图介绍建议并且中期、长期(在 2030 )在中国的区域的不同类型的排放趋势线路。

Strategic deliberation on development of low-carbon energy system in China

In recent years, there have been considerable developments in energy provision with the growing improvements in energy supply security and support systems in China. However, China's energy system continues to retain a high-carbon feature where coal dominates energy production and consumption, which has led to the rapid growth of greenhouse gas emissions and associated serious environmental pollution. It has therefore become an important task for China to consider how to promote the low-carbon development of energy system. This paper summarized the basic trends and challenges for development of low-carbon energy system in China and studied the primary energy consumption and carbon emissions in different scenarios at 10-year intervals between 2010 and 2050. The analysis showed that controlling coal consumption will have an important influence on the control of total carbon emissions and of carbon emission peaking; promotion of non-fossil fuel energies will offer a growing contribution to a low-carbon transition in the medium and long term; the development of carbon capture, utilization, and storage will play a key role in realizing a deep decarbonization pathway, particularly after 2030; and the establishment of a low-carbon power system is crucial for the achievement of low-carbon energy transition. Finally, the strategic considerations and policy suggestions on the development of low-carbon energy systems in China are explored.

Multi-model comparison of CO2 emissions peaking in China:Lessons from CEMF01 study

The paper summarizes results of the China Energy Modeling Forum's(CEMF)first study.Carbon emissions peaking scenarios,consistent with China's Paris commitment,have been simulated with seven national and industry-level energy models and compared.The CO2 emission trends in the considered scenarios peak from 2015 to 2030 at the level of 9e11 Gt.Sector-level analysis suggests that total emissions pathways before 2030 will be determined mainly by dynamics of emissions in the electric power industry and transportation sector.Both sectors will experience significant increase in demand,but have low-carbon alternative options for development.Based on a side-by-side comparison of modeling input and results,conclusions have been drawn regarding the sources of emissions projections differences,which include data,views on economic perspectives,or models'structure and theoretical framework.Some suggestions have been made regarding energy models'development priorities for further research.

Long-term costs and benefits analysis of China’s low-carbon policies

China’s long-term,low-emission development goals will hinge on effective low-carbon policies.Therefore,it is valuable to evaluate the costs and benefits of low-carbon policy packages to ensure that low-carbon development concepts and strategies can be well integrated into the policy making process.This work uses the Low-carbon Policy Assessment(LPA)model to assess long-term costs and benefits of climate and energy policies in China under the reference(RS)scenario and the low-carbon(LC)scenario,which includes 25 additional climate and energy policies.In the LC scenario,both energy-related CO2 emissions and total greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions peak around 2030,achieving China’s Nationally Determined Contribution(NDC)target.Of the policies included in the LC scenario,the five with the highest GHG mitigation potential beyond China’s existing policies are:fluorinated gas(F-gas)substitution,a renewable portfolio standard,carbon pricing,carbon capture utilization and storage(CCUS),and a fuel economy standard for heavy duty vehicles(HDVs).In addition to reducing GHG emissions,these policies decrease particulate emissions and associated premature deaths,which would otherwise reduce China’s GDP by nearly 1.5%in 2050.Together,these policies have the potential to promote significant low-carbon prosperity in China.

Controls of seed quantity and quality on seedling recruitment of smith fir along altitudinal gradient in southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Alpine treeline ecotones are harsh environment for tree establishment due to low temperature.Tree establishment at treelines requires favorable climate,suitable microsites,and viable seeds.But most researches have been addressed treeline microclimate and its effects on tree regeneration,the knowledge of seed quantity and quality and its controls on seedling recruitment were limited.We measured seed rain,soil seed bank,seed germination rate and seedling recruitment in natural forests in combination with seed transplanting manipulation to evaluate the controls of seed quantity and quality on seedling recruitment of Abies georgei var.smithii(smith fir) along altitudinal gradient,withfocus on treeline ecotone in the Sygera Mountains,southeastern Tibetan Plateau.Both seed quantity and seed quality of smith fir decreased with increasing altitude and was thereby associated with decline in seed germination rate.Seed quantity and seedling recruitment were better in north-facing slope than in south slope.The treeline ecotone above 4200 m appeared as the threshold altitude to sharply decrease seed quality and seedling recruitment.The emergence and overwintering rates of transplanting seeds from 3600-3800 m also went down remarkably above 4200 m at north-facing slope.It also underpins the fact that treeline ecotone is the bottleneck of seedling recruitment.Our results suggest that seed quantity and quality are the principal limitation of treeline upward advance.This study also provides evidence tosupport stable treeline position in southeastern Tibetan Plateau.

Pathway and policy analysis to China's deep decarbonization

The Paris Agreement marks the beginning of a new era in the global response to climate change, which further clarifies the long-term goal and underlines the urgency addressing climate change. For China,promoting the decoupling between economic growth and carbon emissions as soon as possible is not only the core task of achieving the medium-and long-term goals and strategies to address climate change, but also the inevitable requirement for ensuring the sustainable development of economy and society. Based on the analysis of the historical trends of the economy and social development, as well as society, energy consumption, and key end-use sectors in China, this paper studies the deep carbon emission reduction potential of carbon emission of in energy, industry, building, and transportation and other sectors with "bottom-up" modeling analysis and proposes a medium-and long-term deep decarbonization pathway based on key technologies' mitigation potentials for China. It is found that under deep decarbonization pathway, China will successfully realize the goals set in China's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions of achieving carbon emissions peak around 2030 and lowering carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product(GDP) by 60-65% from the 2005 level.From 2030 onward, the development of nonfossil energy will further accelerates, and the share of nonfossil energies in primary energy will amounts to about 44% by 2050. Combined with the acceleration of low-carbon transformation in end-use sectors including industry, building, and transportation, the carbon dioxide emissions in 2050 will fall to the level before 2005, and the carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will decreases by more than 90% from the 2005 level. To ensure the realization of the deep decarbonization pathway, this paper puts forward policy recommendations from four perspectives, including intensifying the total carbon dioxide emissions cap and strengthening the related institutional systems and regulations, improving the incentive policies for industrial lowcarbon development, enhancing the role of the market mechanism, and advocating low-carbon life and consumption patterns.