COP 21 :
All together against global warming

 

• China: record of pollution

 

56,3% of respondents believe that China is the biggest polluter of the planet.

 

This belief proves to be true and even more with the record of pollution reached in Beijing in the recent days. Some people even talk about air-pocalyse. In fact, microparticle concentration level 24 times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations has been registered and on November 30th the city was decreed in orange alert (second highest level) for the first time this year. To be precise, Sunday morning, the fine particle concentration was more than 200 micrograms per cubic meter, and even more than 300 in the south of Bejing whereas the WHO recommends that this concentration does not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

These particles are really risky for the population, because of their size, they can enter in our lungs and are the cause of hundreds of thousands of premature deaths in China every year, meaning 1.6 millions of people per year, it represents 4000 dead persons per day. A study showed that 495 big Chinese cities over 500 don’t respect the recommendations of the WHO and that 60% of Chinese will live in the city from 2020.
If we had to compare, in France, it is considered an air pollution episode when it reaches the threshold of 50 micrograms.  

 

Moreover, China is the principal emitter of greenhouse gases, the largest producer and consumer of coal. Indeed, it is responsible for 27.5% of global CO2 emissions in 2013, corresponding to 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide, it is almost two times more than the United States and about 2.5 times more than the EU. It was during the last decade that China has seen its emissions more than doubled in fact they were only at 11% in the early 2000s.

 

• A big shift in chinese strategy

 

Remember that in 2009, China had collapsed the ambitions of Copenhagen. It felt it did not have to pay for the historical mistakes of the industrialized countries, the main cause of carbon dioxide emissions in recent decades. Or at the Bali Conference (COP 13) in 2007, China was still on its positions as the developed countries did not set specific targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas by 2020.

 

However, a change has finally started, China has set up in 2013, an anti-pollution plan, one of the worst climate issues students multiply the initiatives along the lines of a greener economy. Indeed, the government spent $ 89.5 billion on green energy, an increase of 32% in a year and "one third of the investments are made in renewable in the world". But also, the first commercial solar power plant should provide power to about one million Chinese households, is being built in Qinghai Province in the northeast of the country, mirrors spread over 2,250 hectares being in the Gobi Desert.

In addition, Beijing has also improved on the market of the electric car. Ultimately, this is twofold profits for China: it reduces its air pollution by implementing restrictive policies for the use of traditional cars and moves to a more global market.

 

On September 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced, during his first trip to the United States, his will to open in 2017 a carbon credits market -a kind of quotas- market and promised the equivalent of 2,8 billion to help developing countries move towards an energy transition, through the "green Climate Fund" of the UN.

 

On Monday, November 2, Beijing has appeared in a new light. The French President, François Hollande and Chinese President, Xi Jinping agreed to reach an ambitious and legally binding agreement at COP21. This is an unprecedented joint statement composed by 21 points effect, China had hitherto always refused such an effort, in fact, so far, it showed very reluctant judging any binding commitment was "punitive" and doesn't want to have to review any clause to assess compliance of their commitments. That is why this agreement marks progress on several points, including a complete review, every five years, the progress made to achieve the COP21 objectives. If the trajectory of 2°C is not reached then, "the results of this review will help the parties to regularly reinforce their actions in a manner decided at national level". Hollande called this declaration as a major step towards an agreement in Paris at the COP21.

 

Today, China is investing in renewable energy as much as Europe and the US combined. It represents 21% of global investments (IRENA, 2015). Now, the renewables allow to respond to the additional energy demand. In the country 3.4 million people already working in renewable energy in 2014 (IRENA digits). 500,000 additional jobs will be created with the first plan presented by China, and 100,000 lives saved.

 

Why such a turnaround?

 

China realized that it had more to lose than to win by continuing environmental policy they have committed fifteen years ago. Indeed, on 20 November, Xinhua news agency quoted an assessment report on climate change in China, which shows that the temperature and the sea level is already rising faster in China than the global average level. Pollution threatens the stability of the country and become an urgent political issue.

The debates and events are held in China to denounce projects considered too pollutants under the slogan "Yes to growth but not at any price." The Chinese middle class is feeling increasingly concerned with environmental issues. Faced with this alarming situation, China has decided to make the environment a priority for the next five year plan starting in 2016. In practice, this will require a reduction in the use of coal (China holds the third most large coal reserves after the United States and Russia) and the use of renewable energy like wind and solar, China is now the largest investor in this field in the world, is expected to double the EU and the US by 2035.

 

Coal consumption is decreasing for two years now, taking down CO2 emissions in 2014 and in the first quarter of 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Example of SUEZ company : Coal is China's addiction, the ore is used to produce 69% of the electricity consumption of China. To detoxify, China is using French technology, sludge from purges stations is recovered, dried to become granules that will serve as fuels thereafter. This sludge replaces coal, which represents a saving of about 18 million tons of coal per year, meaning 30,000 tons of CO2 that are not reject in the atmosphere. This is little compared to 3 billion tons burn per year in China but SUEZ is one of the companies that contribute to the country.

 

In addition, air pollution scares away investors. In a context of economic slowdown in the country, China understands that rely on renewable energy could bring him big.

 

Finally, it did not escape the Chinese leaders that the climate issue could put them as a major player on the international stage. And thus put on par with the United States, their great power rival.

 

• China’s COP21 proposal

 

It's on June 30, 2015 that China published its national commitment proposal.

Which announced a more active role of China concerning the environment as :

• The goal of its CO2 emissions to peak before 2030, with the intention of doing this before

• Reaching 20% ​​of non-fossil energy in its mix in 2030. It does not say how much will be filled by renewable (the other being the nuclear), 20% non -fossils that will be filled by renewable energies

• A percentage of carbon intensity reduction of the country by 2030 compared to 2005 (this is new compared to the Sino-US agreement): China announced the decline in carbon intensity of 60- 65% compared to 2005 by 2030,

• To increase its forest stock of about 4.5 billion cubic meters compared to 2005.

• Give details of sectoral policies and measures to achieve these objectives,

 

• Some critics

 

In November 2015, China is confident about the outcome of COP21, but it considers the commitments of the developed country insufficient. For Chinese officials, "the scale of reductions in CO2 emissions of developed countries has not yet reached the necessary level" to maintain the global warming under 2°C, there is not enough money raised to reach the $ 100 billion designed to the developing countries. Finally, "there is still no solution" to the critical issue of transfers of technologies from rich countries to developing countries.

 

Chinese critics are sharp, though the country does not question its own objectives, as stated by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, November 25, 2015: "The Paris conference is not intended to develop new proposals, this is to reduce the differences (between the views of the participating countries) and reach agreement on the basis of existing proposals "already advanced by the States, said the senior diplomat.

 

To these critics, the developed countries respond that China could make much more efforts: it could provide to stop the rise in its emissions of greenhouse gas much earlier than 2030, more around 2020, it could decide placing themselves on a trajectory consistent with a long-term objective (ie 2050) of 100% renewable energy and zero CO2 emissions, for example.