Green Development In China

Just a decade ago, China maintained only a handful of operating wind turbines -- all imported from Europe and the United States.

What does it mean for the future of the planet when one of the world’s most durable authoritarian governance systems pursues “ecological civilization”? Despite its staggering pollution and colossal appetite for resources, China exemplifies a model of state-led environmentalism which concentrates decisive political, economic, and epistemic power under centralized leadership. On the face of it, China seems to embody hope for a radical new approach to environmental governance. In this thought-provoking book, Yifei Li and Judith Shapiro probe the concrete mechanisms of China’s coercive environmentalism to show how ‘going green’ helps the state to further other agendas such as citizen surveillance and geopolitical influence. Through top-down initiatives, regulations, and campaigns to mitigate pollution and environmental degradation, the Chinese authorities also promote control over the behavior of individuals and enterprises, pacification of borderlands, and expansion of Chinese power and influence along the Belt and Road and even into the global commons. Given the limited time that remains to mitigate climate change and protect millions of species from extinction, we need to consider whether a green authoritarianism can show us the way. This book explores both its promises and risks.

In the last 30 years, China’s record economic growth lifted half a billion people out of poverty, with rapid urbanization providing abundant labor, cheap land, and good infrastructure. While China has avoided some of the common ills of urbanization, strains are showing as inefficient land development leads to urban sprawl and ghost towns, pollution threatens people’s health, and farmland and water resources are becoming scarce. With China’s urban population projected to rise to about one billion – or close to 70 percent of the country’s population – by 2030, China’s leaders are seeking a more coordinated urbanization process. Urban China is a joint research report by a team from the World Bank and the Development Research Center of China’s State Council which was established to address the challenges and opportunities of urbanization in China and to help China forge a new model of urbanization. The report takes as its point of departure the conviction that China's urbanization can become more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable. However, it stresses that achieving this vision will require strong support from both government and the markets for policy reforms in a number of area. The report proposes six main areas for reform: first, amending land management institutions to foster more efficient land use, denser cities, modernized agriculture, and more equitable wealth distribution; second, adjusting the hukou household registration system to increase labor mobility and provide urban migrant workers equal access to a common standard of public services; third, placing urban finances on a more sustainable footing while fostering financial discipline among local governments; fourth, improving urban planning to enhance connectivity and encourage scale and agglomeration economies; fifth, reducing environmental pressures through more efficient resource management; and sixth, improving governance at the local level.

The book discusses how to establish a land-use system for small and medium-sized cities in order to promote low carbon economic development and to ensure sustainable development. It also presents the objectives and requirements of urban green development: The first objective is to establish a green city with ecological harmony. The second is the establishment of a people-oriented harmonious city, which is important for the green development of city. Drawing on past experience and combining this with the current situation in China’s cities, it argues that the construction of people-oriented harmonious cities should be a priority. The third objective is to build multi-functional organic cities in which the urban function is relatively independent. Lastly, the fourth objective is to establish a city with unique charm, applying historical ways of thinking to today’s world.

Based on the latest information and indicators in science and innovation, the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2012 reviews key trends in STI policies and performance in OECD countries and major emerging economies, and across a number of thematic areas.

This book focuses on the key determinants of China’s sustainable development in the general context of globalization from an environmental perspective. The author presents expert analysis on China’s role in the world economy, trade openness, cross-border investments and sustainable development in China. Readers will gain an in-depth understanding of various important issues concerning China’s current and future environmentally sustainable development in this new era of globalization.

This book discusses several important issues in the practice of China's green development. It analyzes the carbon mitigation, water conservation and environmental pollution from the perspectives of economic development, technological change, production and demand. The book uses various quantitative methods to reveal the pathways of China's green development. The methods include Log Mean Divisia Index, input-output analysis, structural decomposition analysis, data envelope analysis, econometric methods and computable general equilibrium model. The findings, discussions and policy implications of this book contribute to the theory and policy studies in China's green development.

During Latin America’s China-led commodity boom, governments turned a blind eye to the inherent flaws in the region’s economic policy. Now that the commodity boom is coming to an end, those flaws cannot be ignored. High on the list of shortcomings is the fact that Latin American governments—and Chinese investors—largely fell short of mitigating the social and environmental impacts of commodity-led growth. The recent commodity boom exacerbated pressure on the region’s waterways and forests, accentuating threats to human health, biodiversity, global climate change and local livelihoods. China and Sustainable Development in Latin America documents the social and environmental impact of the China-led commodity boom in the region. It also highlights important areas of innovation, like Chile’s solar energy sector, in which governments, communities and investors worked together to harness the commodity boom for the benefit of the people and the planet.