China Environmental Law

If you want further information about China CO₂ emissions you can purchase a copy of China’s Energy Report 2008 prepared by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

According to NewScientistEnvironment (CELB is much too cheap to spring for the $48 purchase price)

The report, China Energy Report 2008, says that, by 2020, China’s burning of fossil fuels could emit between 9.2 and 10.6 billion tonnes of CO2, depending on varying scenarios for development and technology.

By 2030, those emissions may reach 11.4 to 14.7 billion tonnes, it says. Global carbon emissions in 2007 were estimated to be about 31.2 billion tonnes.

The report does not give its own estimate of China’s current CO2 emissions, but cites data from a US Department of Energy institute that put them at 5.1 billion tonnes in 2004. The US Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a government lab, recently estimated that the US emitted about 5.9 billion tonnes of carbon in 2007, while China emitted 6.6 billion tonnes.

The report warns that inaction in the face of this projected growth in emissions will have drastic environmental consequences. Yet it also says economic development must not be hobbled.

“No matter how historical responsibility is defined, our country’s development path cannot repeat the unconstrained emissions of developed countries’ energy use,” states the Chinese-language report. “We must soon prepare and plan ahead to implement emissions reduction concepts and measures in a long-term and stable energy development strategy.”

The main author, Wei Yiming, was not immediately available for comment on the findings and why they appeared now.

If you’d like to donate a copy to the CELB library, we will make sure your largesse is appropriately acknowledged.