China's climate change policy post-Kyoto (2009-2015): Applying the bureaucratic politics approach


Abstract


China is regarded as the world’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide. Having ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which binds countries to pursue emission reduction targets towards climate change mitigation, it faced international pressure to cut its carbon emissions. Accordingly, this aptly illustrates the country’s evolving climate change policy that is mainly shaped by domestic considerations and its ascent to global supremacy. Using bureaucratic politics approach to examine a one-party state like China, this study finds that government ministries engaged in bargaining as the competition for power and influence intensified. In particular, the China Meteorological Administration and the Ministry of Environmental Protection asserted influence on climate change policy during the early years of international negotiations, while the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seized control of the policymaking process on climate change by mainstreaming economic development in the agenda. However, China’s rise as an economic giant, along with the accompanying threats of climate change, prompted the leadership to adopt a low-carbon green growth strategy, which eventually became the country’s ideal development path for the long-term.

DOI Code: 10.1285/i20398573v10n1p75

Keywords: Bureaucratic Policy; China; Climate Change; Climate Policy; Sustainable Development

References


Allison, G., & Halperin, M. (1972). Bureaucratic Politics: A Paradigm and Some Policy Implications. World Politics, 24(S1), 40-79.

https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/wpot24&i=535.

Busch, C. (2022). China’s Emissions Trading System Will Be The World’s Biggest Climate Policy. Here’s What Comes Next. Forbes, 18 April, last accessed 21 June 2024, https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2022/04/18/chinas-emissions-trading-system-will-be-the-worlds-biggest-climate-policy-heres-what-comes-next/?sh=4e3ea2e92d59.

Conrad, B. (2010). Bureaucratic land rush: China’s administrative battles in the arena of climate change policy. Harvard Asia Quarterly, 12, 52-64. last accessed 21 June 2024, https://gppi.net/media/Conrad_2010_Bureaucratic_Land.pdf

Falkner, R. (2016). The Paris Agreement and the new logic of international climate politics. International Affairs, 92(5), 1107–1125. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12708.

Harris, P., & Yu, H. (2010). Climate Change in Chinese Foreign Policy: Internal and External Responses. P. Harris (ed.), Climate Change and Foreign Policy: Case Studies from East to West (pp. 53-67). London: Routledge.

Heggelund, G., Andresen, S., & Buan, I.F. (2010). Chinese Climate Policy: Domestic Priorities, Foreign Policy and Emerging Implementation. In K. Harrison & L. Sundstrom, (eds.), Global Commons, Domestic Decisions: The Comparative Politics of Climate Change (pp. 229-260). Cambridge: MIT Press.

International Energy Agency. 2020. “China’s Emissions Trading Scheme.” Last accessed 21 June 2024, https://www.iea.org/reports/chinas-emissions-trading-scheme.

Karplus, V. (2021). China’s CO2 Emissions Trading System: History, Status, and Outlook. Harvard Project on Climate Agreements. Last accessed 21 June 2024, https://heep.hks.harvard.edu/files/heep/files/karplus_china_national_ets_june_2021_english.pdf.

Karplus, V. J., Shen, X., & Zhang, D. (2020). Herding Cats: Firm Non-Compliance in China’s Industrial Energy Efficiency Program. Energy Journal, 41(4), 1-31. https://doi.org/10.5547/01956574.41.4.vkar.

Lai, H., & Kang, S. (2014). Domestic Bureaucratic Politics and Chinese Foreign Policy. Journal of Contemporary China, 23(86), 294-313. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2013.832531.

Ong, L. (2012). The Apparent "Paradox" in China's Climate Policies: Weak International Commitment on Emissions Reduction and Aggressive Renewable Energy Policy. Asian Survey, 52(6), 1138–1160. https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2012.52.6.1138.

Rajamani, L. (2016). Ambition and differentiation in the 2015 Paris Agreement: Interpretative possibilities and underlying politics. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 65(2), 493–514. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020589316000130.

Sandalow, D. (2018). Guide to Chinese Climate Policy 2018. Report, New York: Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and Center on Global Energy Policy. Last accessed 21 June 2024, https://energypolicy.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/pictures/Guide%20to%20Chinese%20Climate%20Policy%207-27-18.pdf.

Schröder, M. (2016). Supporting China’s Green Leap Forward: Political Strategies for China’s Climate Policies." In E. Sternfeld (ed.), The Environment, Climate Change and Governance in China: Critical Concepts in the Environment (pp. 3-26). London: Routledge.

Shan, Y., Guan, D., Zheng, H., Ou, J., Li, Y., Meng, J., Mi, Z., Liu, Z., & Zhang, Q. (2018). China CO2 emission accounts 1997-2015. Scientific Data, 5 (170201). https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.201.

Shu, W. (2023). A systematic review of climate policies in China: Evolution, effectiveness, and challenges. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 99, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2022.107030.

Smith, R. (2020). China’s Engine of Environmental Collapse. London: Pluto Press.

Tsang, S., & Kolk, A. (2010). The Evolution of Chinese Policies and Governance Structures on Environment, Energy and Climate. Environmental Policy and Governance, 20(3), 180-196. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.540.

Zhang, Y. (2015). Reformulating the low-carbon green growth strategy in China. Climate Policy, 15(sup1), 42-59. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2015.1094726.


Full Text: pdf

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.
کاغذ a4

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia License.