Still, it will take a prodigious effort to cure China’s environmental ills. If energy needs increase, expanding the use of renewable energy to 20% of the fuel makeup may be insufficient to avert climate change. China has stated in the international arena that emissions are to peak by 2030, the year by which climate change is predicted to become irreversible. After this point, the earth will have reached the tipping point, in which the Arctic will become a source, rather than a net sink, of carbon.
Therefore, even though China is working hard to increase its usage of renewable energy, this simply may not be enough to stave off climate change. The solution must be a stronger reduction in the use of carbon-intensive energy, entailing conscientious consumer use as well as more efficient producer use and implementation of carbon-reducing technologies. China’s policy makers take a gradual approach to changing the status quo, but climate change cannot wait.
Triple Crisis
China’s Clean Energy Plans—Enough to Stave Off Climate Change?
Sara Hsu | Assistant Professor of Economics at the State University of New York at New Paltz and Research Director at the Asia Financial Risk Think Tank in Hong Kong. Dr. Hsu specializes in Chinese economic development, informal finance, and shadow banking.
China’s Clean Energy Plans—Enough to Stave Off Climate Change?
Sara Hsu | Assistant Professor of Economics at the State University of New York at New Paltz and Research Director at the Asia Financial Risk Think Tank in Hong Kong. Dr. Hsu specializes in Chinese economic development, informal finance, and shadow banking.
1 comment:
It turns out that protecting the environment is good for business and necessary for survival. How do we convey China's experience to the rest of humanity?
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