Carbon Trading in China: Environmental Discourse and Politics PDF
Preview Carbon Trading in China: Environmental Discourse and Politics
Carbon Trading in China Carbon Trading in China Environmental Discourse and Politics Alex Lo University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong © Alex Lo 2016 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016 978-1-137-52899-5 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 –1 0 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2016 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-55543-7 ISBN 978-1-137-52900-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137529008 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Lo, Alex, 1 981– author. Carbon trading in China: environmental discourse and politics / Alex Lo. pages cm Summary: “Carbon trading has the potential to become the mainstream climate change policy approach, finding its way in China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and second largest economy. Focusing on political dimensions, Alex Lo explores the discourse of carbon trading in this country. As a socialist market economy, China emerges as an exception, where liberal forms of political and market norms do not prevail. The author provides a review of the policy development process and institutional issues about the construction of carbon markets in China. He also presents a critique about the political origins and drivers of the national preference for market institutions, and narratives about the relationship between national power and climate change action.”— Provided by publisher. 1. Carbon offsetting— China. 2. Emissions trading— China. 3. Carbon dioxide mitigation— Economic aspects— C hina. 4. Environmental policy— China. I. Title. HC430.P55L62 2015 363.738' 7460951— dc23 2015021453 Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India. To Winnie Hui Contents List of Figures and Tables viii Preface ix Acknowledgements xii List of Abbreviations xiii A Note on Chinese Names xv 1 New Episode 1 2 Political Economy of Carbon Trading 13 3 Political and Policy Background 35 4 Who Is Leading? State or Finance? 51 5 Policy Change, Discourse, and Storyline 80 6 The Discourse of State Power, Sovereignty, and Carbon 97 7 Historical Parallels, Recurring Storylines 116 8 The End of History? 134 Appendix 144 Notes 155 Bibliography 158 Index 167 vii List of Figures and Tables Figures 1.1 World’s top five greenhouse gas emitting countries (2012) 5 1.2 Total CO emissions from BRIC countries ( 1992–2 012) 5 2 1.3 China’s CO emissions per GDP and capita ( 1992–2 012) 6 2 4.1 Indicative estimates of the number of approved and registered Chinese CDM projects between 2005 and 2012 53 4.2 Trade prices of Certified Emission Reduction (CER) and important events affecting the prospects of emissions trading between 2010 and 2012 71 6.1 Schematic representation of the carbon trading discourse of China 112 Tables 3.1 Examples of sources and scales of climate financing in China 39 4.1 Population, GDP, and assigned emissions reduction targets of the Chinese ETS pilot sites 57 4.2 Status of the Chinese pilot ETSs 60 4.3 Indicative list of carbon exchanges in China 63 6.1 Sampling schema for discourse analysis 100 A1 Indicative list of carbon exchanges in China with details on shareholders identified 144 A2 Work schedule of the implementation plan of Guangdong ETS 151 A3 Sources of Chinese news articles cited 153 viii Preface All climates are changing. When the first draft of this book was com- pleted, a resounding video documentary about the dreadful air pollu- tion in China came under public spotlight. The film is called Under the Dome (穹頂之下), directed by Chai Jing, a former Chinese state television news anchor. Chai skilfully weaves personal experience with a wide- spread environmental threat in urban China, that is, smog, and unveils how environmental policies and regulations fail to protect the public from the deadly smog throughout Chinese cities. The informative and well- presented documentary triggered massive public attention from all levels of society and achieved phenomenal success in public debates. It attracted more than 100 million views across the country in just a few days and some 280 million posts on Weibo, a microblogging site.1 The film is put on par with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth. Chai successfully interviewed a number of Chinese governmental officials and experts, including some h igh- ranked figures, who are not easily accessible to the public and journalists. She took a critical stance against current regulatory and institutional practices that are deeply influenced by vested interests. In China, critical reports of this kind are usually blocked by the government. Under the Dome is an exception, which has blessing from multiple government agencies. Some commentators believe that Chinese state leaders have sought to make use of this opportunity to clean up and restructure the poorly managed s tate- owned oil and energy monopolies, previously led by a very powerful man in Chinese politics now arrested for organised corruption. The political climate is changing. Fundamental changes in energy and environmental governance are also under way. Regulators gain power, polluters receive penalties, and market mechanisms are being introduced. The h ands- off approach is set to go. All efforts are being made to protect the environment. The green light given to Chai signals that Chinese leadership is changing their mind about how the environment should be governed. Every now and then I come across people, both locals and expats, cel- ebrating the great efforts China has done for the environment over the years. True, these efforts are commendable and unprecedented by vir- tue of the size of the nation. But very little in the official ideology and ix
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