BEIJING, April 15 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- According to the latest China Human Development Report entitled, China and a Sustainable Future, Towards a Low Carbon Economy and Society, China faces “no other choice” but to shift to a low carbon approach in shaping the country’s future social and economic development agenda. Commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with Renmin University of China, the publication asserts that the most strategic option for policymakers is to embark on a low-carbon development path that will preserve and increase its human development achievements in the years to come.
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The report, launched today in Beijing, contends that the nation’s current growth model will be difficult to sustain for the long term. “China is at a critical juncture where the ‘business as usual’ growth model is insufficient in meeting the country’s emerging challenges and pressures,” said Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator in China. “The shift to a low carbon development pathway is imperative as China balances further economic development with environmental sustainability and the need to respond to the threat of climate change,” he continued.
“As the country sits at a crossroads in preparing its 12th Five-Year (2011-15) Plan, implements valuable initiatives towards a 40-45 percent carbon intensity cut by 2020, and combats unprecedented drought conditions throughout southwest China, the report is released at a time where its conclusions and recommendations can play a significant role in shaping the nation’s rapidly evolving policies on sustainability,” said Malik.
Human development is not necessarily accompanied by increases in greenhouse gas emissions
The publication breaks new ground in linking economic growth, carbon emissions and human development in China. Finding that some of the more economically advanced provinces in China are the least carbon intensive while those which have lower income and lower human development indicators maintain higher carbon emission patterns, the report indicates that human development is not necessarily accompanied by increases in greenhouse gas emissions. A more sustainable and low carbon development path, and one which is compatible with advancing human development goals, is indeed possible. While past economic and social progress in China and elsewhere have come at a cost, including damage to the environment, future development can follow a different trajectory.
A unique opportunity to construct eco-cities on a major scale
The report offers policy options for a country that will see the migration of nearly 400 million rural Chinese into urban areas over the next two decades. According to the study, this enormous internal movement of communities, larger than the entire population of the United States, will exert huge upward pressure on greenhouse gas emissions.
As urbanization grows, the country will “need to introduce and enforce strict standards of energy efficiency for building and electronic appliances, reducing carbon emissions from the residential sector,” asserts the report. The nation will also need to “vigorously develop public mass transportation to prevent a massive increase in energy demand and carbon emissions from the transport sector….[a]s a latecomer to development, China may be able to leapfrog over outdated technologies to embrace cleaner, greener options from the outset,” highlights the publication.
Avoiding significant economic costs in the future
A principal vision of a low carbon economy and society is the recognition of its potential economic, social and political benefits, rather than just the associated costs. The National Human Development Report attempts to assess these benefits for China, while realistically taking into account the costs. Policies addressing the negative impacts of climate change produce an enormous number of additional benefits in avoiding significant economic loss in the future. The authors acknowledge that although temporary transition costs exist in the shift to a low-carbon model, such as job loss, higher prices and fiscal revenue shortfalls; they highlight that long term gains include greater competitiveness in new technology, an improved standing in the world, reduced harm to human health, and the protection of vital ecosystems.
“If China can fully seize the opportunities at hand and accomplish the report’s suggested recommendations, it will be possible to move towards a society which is not only environmentally sustainable, but which provides the conditions for greater job creation, improved resource efficiency and energy security, enhanced food security, and better health conditions for its citizenry; a society which, in line with China’s own Xiaokang vision, is well-balanced and prosperous,” concluded Malik.
ABOUT THIS REPORT: Since UNDP produced the first global Human Development Report (HDR) in 1990, HDRs have emerged as its flagship publication and one of UNDP’s most important policy analysis and advocacy tools. Since 1997, China has produced six National Human Development Reports (NHDRs). These NHDR exercises have proven to be successful and valuable, playing a unique role in UNDP’s endeavor to influence China’s development policy-making. Over the years, China’s NHDRs have also become useful resources for academics and UNDP China’s development partners worldwide. These publications are gradually evolving into one of the principal instruments for UNDP’s collaboration with Chinese national think tanks, policy makers and development researchers. Official Website of the Report: http://www.undp.org.cn/undp
UNDP is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners.
