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Based on theories discussion, policy analysis, and case studies, this title examines green consumption in China from both the macro level of policy evolution and the micro level of community participation and implementation.Drawing on the theories of sustainable development, ecological philosophy, environmental economics, consumer psychology and behavior, and community participation, this book approaches the issues of green consumption in China from the legislative and administrative aspects and economic and information means. In looking into the cases of Shenzhen and Beijing, the book unravels the implementation and development of green consumption at the community level in terms of community participation and people's awareness of the issue. Combining global experiences and local empirical studies, it discusses the concepts, evolution, and influencing factors of green consumption. It focuses on China's policy and practice, as well as the institutional hindrance and policy suggestions for further progress.This book will appeal to researchers, professionals, and policymakers interested in sustainable development, green economy, environmental economics, and sustainable consumption policy in China.

How animal conservation became a defense against cultural erasureChina today positions itself as a model of state-led environmentalism. On the country's arid rangelands, grassland conservation policies have targeted pastoralists and their animals, blamed for causing desertification. State environmentalism—in the form of grazing bans, enclosure, and resettlement—has transformed the lives of many ethnic minority herders in China's western borderlands. However, this book shows how such policies have been contested and negotiated on the ground, in the context of the state's intensifying nation-building project. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Alasha, in the far west of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Thomas White describes how ethnic Mongols have foregrounded the local breed of Bactrian camel, mobilizing ideas of heritage and resource conservation to defend pastoralism.In exploring how the greening of the Chinese state affects the entangled lives of humans and animals at the margins of the nation-state, this study is both a political biography of the Bactrian camel and an innovative work of political ecology addressing critical questions of rural livelihoods, conservation, and state power.

This book presents an empirical study of the effects of environmental policies on China and its neighboring countries, with a focus on waste and climate policies in China. The two major carbon policies have to do with carbon markets and renewable energy. The authors first examine the effectiveness of the Asian carbon market. Because of the consumption of goods beyond provincial borders, nationwide carbon markets are rather difficult to operate; therefore, a desirable initial allocation in the carbon market is proposed in this book. As for renewable power, its sources have not been fully utilized owing to a regional mismatch of supply and demand, so optimal locations of renewable energy are shown. The book also contains an analysis of the environmental and economic impacts of changes in resource circulation in East Asia. Although motorization is advancing rapidly, the vein industry for recycling used cars has not progressed. The authors estimate the amount of materials from used cars including new energy vehicles (electric and fuel cell vehicles) and propose desirable policies for used vehicles. East Asia is interdependent with respect to carbon and waste as well as the economy. China has regulated the import of waste recently and has started recycling its own wastes, putting pressure on neigboring countries to recycle their waste domestically. The authors estimate the environmental and economic impacts of such policy changes.

This timely and comprehensive Handbook addresses how Chinese cities govern the environmental changes generated by fast economic growth and urbanisation. Outlining the relationship between the state, market, and society, this Handbook provides a systematic understanding of urban environmental governance in China.Exploring the context of changing urban environmental policies in China, leading international scholars highlight the arts of governance and governmentality through experimentation and discourse. Chapters investigate the political ecologies of eco-cities and conservation, urban waste management, and governance and sustainability transitions, as well as focusing on low-carbon innovations and green buildings. With a territorial perspective grounded in Chinese cities, contributors interrogate changing and complex state–market–society dynamics in urbanisation and urban environmental governance.With a thorough and systematic analysis of new environmental initiatives, practices, and impacts, this Handbook provides scholars, students, and policy researchers of environmental studies, politics, and East Asian studies with an exemplary selection of contemporary research on China's urban environmental governance.

This book, from the perspectives of the spatial and intergenerational externalities of environmental public goods, provides a comprehensive overview of the concepts and theories concerning environmental public goods supply and illustrates how to design the mechanism for promoting resident participation in effective environmental public goods supply under the guidance of the government. Noticeably, an intergenerational overlapping model for resident participation in environmental public goods supply has been created in the book, which generates new ideas for mitigating the long-standing forward intergenerational goods shortage. Moreover, this book uses happiness dataset to measure the feasibility of resident participation in environmental public goods supply and also makes a comparison between two supply models: Government Provide Model and Residents, Enterprises and Government Provide Model, so as to offer theoretically feasible suggestions.Not only is this book highly recommended for professionals in government units, universities, and research institutions that are engaged in environmental governance, but it can be used as a reference book for students of relevant majors in institutions of higher learning.

This book provides comprehensive economic analyses on the paths to net-zero for China. It gives a detailed overview of issues and challenges related to carbon neutrality of the global largest emitter which have not been adequately addressed e.g., reduction costs and efficiency of existing actions, the multiple impacts of the newly established carbon market, and the potentials and costs of nature-based solutions such as biophysical sequestration, etc. Studies on China's carbon reduction have attracted scientists and policymakers from diverse backgrounds. Pursuing a holistic and systematic approach, the book establishes a fundamental framework for this topic, emphasizing the importance of integrated technical-economic-policy analysis. This book will not only be an essential reference to the carbon-neutral progress in China but also will be an outstanding text book on carbon-neutral management. Similarly, this book is expected to attract a great range of readership including undergraduate and postgraduate students, economic and climate specialists, researchers and policymakers in China as well as in overseas.

This book highlights China's theoretical advances and practical actions toward climate risk prevention in 2019. It provides both an overview and detailed discussion of specific topics, including case studies. The general report assesses the latest changes in the climate system both globally and in China, and identifies areas most susceptible to the impact of climate change. This is followed by topical reports on issues such as global climate governance, China's strategy in climate negotiations, the carbon trade, climate insurance, domestic actions to address climate concerns, including specific solutions to local challenges and achievements made by cities in China. Written by top experts in the field from Research Institute for Eco-civilization of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and National Climate Center of China Meteorological Administration, the book aims to inform the readers on recent development and progress in climate risk prevention.

How mega-dams, industrial agriculture, and other developments challenge ecosystem resilienceIs environmental degradation an inevitable result of economic development? Can ecosystems be restored once government officials and the public are committed to doing so? These questions are at the heart of An Ecological History of Modern China, a comprehensive account of China's transformation since the founding of the People's Republic from the perspective not of the economy but of the biophysical world. Examples throughout illustrate how agricultural, industrial, and urban development have affected the resilience of China's ecosystems—their ability to withstand disturbances and additional growth—and what this means for the country's future. Drawing on decades of research, Stevan Harrell demonstrates the local and global impacts of China's miraculous rise. In clear and accessible prose, An Ecological History of Modern China untangles the paradoxes of development and questions the possibility of a future that is both prosperous and sustainable. It is a critical resource for students, scholars, and general readers interested in environmental change, Chinese history, and sustainable development.

This book explores the determination of China's carbon emission targets, especially with regard to the allocation of responsibility of China's import and export carbon emissions, and carbon emission quota allocations across different time periods, industries, and regions.Research outside of China tends to focus on methods and approaches of carbon emission reduction policies and the impact of their implementation. Instead, within China, the focus has been on discussion of the necessity and conditions for China's development of a low-carbon economy as well as its introduction as a concept in the light of overseas comparisons. This book utilizes game theory, mechanism design, input-output theory, econometric theory and other methods to scrutinize China's carbon emissions and carbon emissions targets across different periods, industries, and regions. The result is a detailed theoretical and empirical investigation of carbon emission issues in the Chinese context.The book will be essential reading for students and scholars of economics, especially those with a focus on Chinese economic development and policymakers in the low-carbon economy sphere.

The scope of this book is to map China's city clusters and their individual directions for the national-level strategies in line with the 2060 carbon neutrality plan. Since China announced the carbon neutrality plan in autumn 2020, no study has looked at the role of city clusters in achieving this long-term plan. Hence, this study is believed to be the first attempt to explore this important topic from the city cluster perspective. It explores the challenges, opportunities, and directions of all 19 city clusters, allowing readers to have a clear picture of China's historical and ongoing progress, as well as the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. In a short time, China's city clusters have helped boost regional economic development, infrastructure development, trade and business, and better urban–rural integration. With enhanced coordination of connection and transport networks in and between the city clusters, we see a growing number of initiatives beyond just the initial economic strategies. The dual approach of top-down policies and infrastructure systems and bottom-up governance and investments has helped China consider urban–rural development strategies and regional sustainable development. These factors are essential to be explored from the city cluster perspective and in line with China's sustainable development and carbon neutrality directions. Hence, the book covers these points holistically, ensuring that regional planning and development are favored in the face of uneven urbanization trends.We anticipate this book to be a valuable resource for local governments and authorities, urban planners and practitioners, developers, and urban researchers. While the focus is on China's city clusters, we believe there are similar examples elsewhere. Hence, lessons learnt from this book could apply to other countries, regions, and subregions. Lastly, the book aims to put regional sustainable development at the heart of longer-term strategies and plans,such as the case of China's carbon neutrality plan.

From solar panels to synthetic biology, an accessible-yet-authoritative overview of how climate change, the global Covid-19 pandemic, and emerging technologies are changing China's relationship with the world, and what it means for governments, companies, and organizations across the globe. Ever since China began its ascendancy to great-power status in the 1980s, observers have focused on its growing economic, military, and diplomatic power. But in recent years, Chinese officials, businesses, and institutions have increased their visibility and influence on every major global issue, from climate change and artificial intelligence to biotechnology and the global Covid-19 pandemic. How have these newer issues changed China's relationship with the world? And, importantly, how can we prepare for a future increasingly shaped by China? In China's Next Act, Scott M. Moore re-envisions China's role in the world, with a focus on sustainability and technology. Moore argues that these increasingly pressing, shared global challenges are reshaping China's economy and foreign policy, and consequently, cannot be tackled without China. Yet sustainability and technology present opportunities for intensified economic, geopolitical, and ideological competition--a reality that Beijing recognizes. The US and other countries must do the same if they are to meet ecological and technological challenges in the decades ahead. In some areas, like clean technology development, competition can be good for the planet. But in others, it could be catastrophic--only cooperation can lower the risks of artificial intelligence and other disruptive new technologies. In this clearly written and accessible overview, Moore examines how countries like the US must balance cooperation and competition with China in response to shared challenges. With an emphasis on opportunities as well as threats, Moore addresses not only key developments in sustainability and technology within China, but also their implications for foreign countries, companies, and other organizations. China's influence on sustainability and technology is both global and granular--and twenty-first century China itself looks more like a network than a nation-state. Featuring original interviews and an in-depth look at Chinese government policy, China's Next Act provides a unique--and uniquely balanced--window into these new dimensions of China's global ascension.

This book covers the research fields in biodiversity conservation, the Belt and Road eco-environmental cooperation, China's five-year plan for eco-environmental protection, sustainable development goals assessment, and human health loss assessment. In the past, these achievements have played an important scientific role in supporting China's ecological and environmental protection, and produced extensive social impacts and significant environmental benefits. At the same time, the relevant research ideas and methods also show the latest progress and trend in the field of environmental strategy and planning in China in recent years, which can be used for reference by experts and scholars of other countries in the field of ecological environment.

The book is the collection of the latest research results from Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning in environmental policy and reform during the past years, mainly related to ecological compensation, the emission trading, the environment audit, carbon tax, environment friendly city, environmental health, economic policy in medical waste, scattered coal treatment subsidies, environmental policy efficiency analysis, environmental industry statistics, environmental performance evaluation, green fiscal and taxation policy, etc., presenting the latest achievements, developments and research trends in this field.

This is an Open Access book. In accordance with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it showcases 17 projects under the framework of Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). These projects cover ninefields, namely, biodiversity and ecosystem, clean energy, clean water, sustainable transportation, solid waste treatment, sustainable consumption and production, green buildings, sustainable foodproduction and corporate social responsibility. Aiming at achieving green development, these projects, in their implementation, adhere to the concept of ecological civilization, combine China's strict environmental protection systems and international standards, and take various measures of environmental protection based on the conditions of the local environment. These measures include joint efforts with local governments, businesses and communities, optimizating of design and construction plans, strict controling over different types of pollutants, and in situ conservation of species and ecosystems.The experience and practice of these 13 projects set an example for the latecomers.

Despite contrasting approaches, democratic and authoritarian governments all underline the fact that environmental protection is crucial and inevitable—and China's enthusiasm in stepping up its efforts to protect the environment has not gone unnoticed. This book highlights how the consensual orchestration of sustainability in China's biggest city, Shanghai, affects non-state actors'ways of perceiving, acting, and organizing around environmental issues.China's Green Consensus examines grassroots realities as they intersect with events of everyday life, offering insights into areas that far transcend debates over coercive forms of environmentalism and exploring the “soft” and “green” facets of President Xi Jinping's authoritarian approach to governance. The importance of environmental protection in people's lives serves as a lens to analyze and understand authoritarian adaptations to environmental global phenomena. Arantes highlights how, through mobilization and (de)politicization, a “green” consensus leads to the displacement of state responsibilities and the cultivation of civil society in its own image. In so doing, she opens up new ways of thinking about the complexities of environmental governance, consensus politics, subject making, and citizenship in authoritarian contexts.This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Chinese society and politics, environmental politics, political ecology, international relations, and urbanization in Asia, as well as all others interested in the rising appeal of authoritarianism around the globe.

This book compares how the social consequences of climate change are similarly unevenly distributed within China and the United States, despite different political systems.Focusing on the cases of Atlanta, USA, and Jinhua, China, Julia Teebken explores a set of path-dependent factors (lock-ins), which hamper the pursuit of climate adaptation by local governments to adequately address the root causes of vulnerability. Lock-ins help to explain why adaptation efforts in both locations are incremental and commonly focus on greening the environment. In both these political systems, vulnerability appears as a core component along with the reconstitution of a class-based society. This manifests in the way knowledge and political institutions operate. For this reason, Teebken challenges the argument that China's environmental authoritarian structures are better equipped in dealing with matters related to climate change. She also interrogates the proposition that certain aspects of the liberal democratic tradition of the United States are better suited in dealing with social justice issues in the context of adaptation. Overall, the book's findings contradict the widespread assumption that developed countries necessarily have higher adaptive capacity than developing or emerging economies.This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate justice and vulnerability, climate adaptation and environmental policy and governance.

This Open Access publication focuses on China's goal of achieving peak carbon emissions in 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. The book is the first to systematically build a framework combining a top-down and bottom-up analysis of this acute topic.What does carbon neutrality mean for economics in China? Might it imply stagflation or is it an opportunity to maximize the potential of green manufacturing?The book offers a comprehensive analysis of how the pursuit of carbon neutrality may influence the development of China's economy, and the country's biggest industries, while foreseeing the likely changes in people's lifestyles.In total, the book constructs a comprehensive path for China's carbon neutrality drive from the perspective of the green premium. This effort lays the foundation for a discussion of the country's emissions reduction plan.The book goes further, calculating the investment required for different sectors to achieve carbon neutrality, andillustrating the roles of carbon pricing and green finance in this undertaking.The book's information comes from a network of primary sources, including experts in the field and noted academics, to depict potential low-carbon roadmaps and green transitions in major industries.Emphasized is green development in sectors that will be critical to civilization, including in technology, energy, manufacturing, transportation, and urban planning, which are backed by in-depth discussions and analyses.Accessible and academically rigorous, the work is anchored in the economics of carbon neutrality, extends to potential policy implications and identifies investment opportunities.This valuable reference will attract readers interested in public policy, economics, finance, and investors who seek to better understand China's prospects in the low-carbon economy of the near future.

This book systematically analyzes how and why China has expectedly lost and then surprisingly gained ground in the quest to solve the complicated environmental problem of air pollution over the past two decades. Yuan Xu shines a light on how China's sulfur dioxide emissions rose quickly in tandem with rapid economic growth but then dropped to a level not seen for at least four decades. Despite this favorable mitigation outcome, Xu details how this stemmed from a litany of policy stumbles within the Chinese context of no democracy and a lack of sound rule of law. Throughout this book, the author examines China's environmental governance and strategy and how they shape environmental policy. The chapters weave together a goal-centered governance model that China has adopted of centralized goal setting, decentralized goal attainment, decentralized policy making and implementation. Xu concludes that this model provides compelling evidence that China's worst environmental years reside in the past. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Chinese environmental policy and governance, air pollution, climate change and sustainable development, as well as practitioners and policy makers working in these fields. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429452154, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Climate change is a key problem of the 21st century. China, as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has committed to stabilize its current emissions and dramatically increase the share of electricity production from non-fossil fuels by 2030. However, this is only a first step: in the longer term, China needs to aggressively strive to reach a goal of zero-emissions. Through detailed discussions of electricity pricing, electric vehicle policies, nuclear energy policies, and renewable energy policies, this book reviews how near-term climate and energy policies can affect long-term decarbonization pathways beyond 2030, building the foundations for decarbonization in advance of its realization. Focusing primarily on the electricity sector in China - the main battleground for decarbonization over the next century – it provides a valuable resource for researchers and policymakers, as well as energy and climate experts.

This book introduces the press release work carried out by Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China in 2019. It is divided into four parts, each arranged chronologically. The first part contains the records of Li Ganjie, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, who attended the press conference on'Promoting Ecological Civilization and Building a Beautiful China'. The second part contains the records of Minister Li Ganjie's attendance at the press conference of the National People's Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference as well as the'Minister channel'. The third part contains the records of four press conferences on ecological and environmental protection held by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China. The fourth part contains the records of 12 regular press conferences held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

This book is the first effort to develop a broad and deep perspective on the emerging space occupied by “non-state actors” in China in the context of global environmental governance. It will serve as a primer both for scholars seeking to understand China's environmental governance system and for practitioners working with policymakers and administrators within that system. Individual chapters explore what works in achieving social change, domestically as well as globally, and will provide guidance to activists and directors of NGOs as well as scholars.

Sustainable Urbanism in China explores the notion of'Sustainable Urbanism'by considering the role sustainable neighborhood planning plays in the larger picture of sustainable urbanism and suggests innovations and best practices that are either developed or adopted by China. These are narrated as lessons learnt for other countries where we see similar trends of development patterns or emerging practices. Through various explorations of challenges, paradigms, and innovations of urban sustainability, this book highlights how planning, policy, and design are forming and reforming in the context of China. These are offered through a set of guidelines and pathways for urban sustainability at the scale of neighborhoods/communities or districts in a wider context of urban environments, as well as strategies for planners, developers, policy makers, and educators in the field of the built environment. Through a comprehensive overview of urban sustainability practices in China, this book investigates 12 case study projects. These comprehensive explorations should in turn help construct the future directions of China's sustainable urban development and provide innovative pathways of sustainable urbanism in China and around the globe.

Over recent decades, China has moved from being a follower towards taking on a leadership role in global environmental governance. This book discusses this important development. It examines the key role of Chinese interest groups, showing how through various domestic dynamics they have influenced how China has approached issues such as climate change and the environment. Focusing on examples of multilateral environmental treaties, bilateral cooperation, and the proposition of alternative norms – the idea of China as an'ecological civilisation'– the book provides crucial insights on the evolution of China's approach to international relations and engagement with global environmental governance, and contributes to the discussion of what kind of power China is poised to become.

There is a growing concern among Chinese researchers and policymakers about China's industrial development being unsustainable and the irreversible depletion of natural resources and deterioration of the ecological environment. The relationship between industrial development, pollution and the environmental quality is an important issue that deserves careful study. Environmental considerations play a crucial role in shaping China's development strategies. Green development of China creates strong pressures for continuous transforming, upgrading and restructuring of the Chinese economy. This book explores how China's industrial development relates to pollution and environmental quality, and how considerations about such issues associated with the ecological system affect China's development strategies.

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.

This book examines water resource management in China's electric power sector and the implications for energy provision in the face of an emerging national water crisis and global climate change. Over 75% of China's current electricity comes from coal. Coal-fired power plants are reliant on water, with plants using significant volumes of water every year, yet water resources are unevenly distributed. In the face of serious environmental concerns and increasing electricity demand, this book examines the environmental impacts that coal power plants have on water resources and the impact water availability has on the electricity sector in a country with a significant number of water-scarce provinces and a large number of power plants located on inland waterways. It discusses the water impacts and constraints for transforming the electric power sector away from coal to renewable energy sources, such as hydropower and concentrated solar power. The book adopts a mix-method approach, combining a plant-level quantitative analysis on water impacts and dependencies in China's electricity sector and a qualitative analysis of relevant institutions in both sectors. By reviewing policy and institution cases in China's water and electricity sectors, the book provides important recommendations calling for coordinated institutions to shift away from the current paradigm where water and electricity are governed independently. Enriching the water-energy nexus literature, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars working on water resource management, energy industries and Chinese environmental policy, as well as policymakers and practitioners in those fields.

As carbon dioxide is the most significant source of greenhouse gases today, its emission quantity has become a primary focus of governments, scholars and the general public. From the perspective of industrial structure, the book mainly explores the features of carbon emissions in China. The author thoroughly studies related theories and literature about industrial structure and climate change, and reviews the different development histories of developed countries and China. Based on historical data, this volume discusses the influence of interprovincial industrial structure and income level on carbon emissions, and tries to estimate different industrial sectors'carbon emissions. It especially studies the case of Zhejiang Province, and analyses several factors which affect CO2 emissions. The book provides international readers with rich information about the characteristics, patterns and drivers of China's CO2 emissions, which will definitely help scholars and students better understand China's economy.

As the world hurtles towards environmental oblivion, China is leading the charge. The nation's CO2 emissions are more than twice those of the US with a GDP just two-thirds as large. China leads the world in renewable energy yet it is building new coal-fired power plants faster than renewables. The country's lakes, rivers, and farmlands are severely polluted yet China's police state can't suppress pollution, even from its own industries. This is the first book to explain these contradictions. Richard Smith explains how the country's bureaucratic rulers are driven by nationalist-industrialist tendencies that are even more powerful than the drive for profit under'normal'capitalism. In their race to overtake the US they must prioritise hyper-growth over the environment, even if this ends in climate collapse and eco-suicide. Smith contends that nothing short of drastic shutdowns and the scaling back of polluting industries, especially in China and the US, will suffice to slash greenhouse gas emissions enough to prevent climate catastrophe.

This book offers a theoretically-based study on crimes against protected wildlife in mainland China with first-hand empirical data collected over five years. It provides an overall examination of crimes against protected and endangered wildlife and an extensive account of the situation in China, where a significant portion of the illegal wildlife trade is currently happening. This emerging field has become an important topic for enforcement and governments alike yet remains an under-researched area. The collected data covers illegal tiger-parts trade, the illegal ivory trade, and the consumption of protected wildlife. The book will serve as a useful reference for scholars, law-enforcement agencies, lawyers, and conservation and wildlife-protection NGO groups to facilitate their understanding of the growing illegal trade in protected and endangered wildlife. The Illegal Wildlife Trade in China has three general aims: first, to contribute to the general development of green criminology and specifically to the literature of the illegal transactions of protected wildlife at the distribution stage. Second, it aims to understand how illegal transactions are carried out to create insights for policy makers and law enforcement professionals. Finally, Wong seeks to apply theoretical frameworks (such as that of trust, networks, and situational crime prevention) to the understanding of the distribution of illegal wildlife products in order to make contributions to ongoing sociological and criminological discussions.

This volume examines how urban stakeholders in China – particularly city governments and social actors – tackle China's urban environmental crisis. The volume's case studies speak to important interdisciplinary themes such as new tools and instruments of urban green governance, climate change and urban carbon consumption, green justice, digital governance, public participation, social media, social movements, and popular protest. It lays out a unique theoretical framework for examining and discussing urban green governance. The case studies are based on extensive fieldwork that examines governance failures, challenges, and innovations from across China, including the largest cities. They show that numerous policies, experiments, and reforms have been put in place in China – mostly on a pragmatic basis, but also as a result of both strategic policy design, civil participation, and protest. The book highlights how China's urban governments bring together diverse programmatic building blocks and instruments, from China and elsewhere. Written by experts and researchers from different disciplines at leading universities in China and the Nordic countries in Europe, this volume will be of interest to researchers and students who are interested in Chinese politics, especially urban politics, governance issues, and social movements. Both students and teachers will find the theoretical perspectives and case studies useful in their coursework.The unique green governance perspective makes this a work that is empirically and theoretically interesting for those working with urban political and environmental studies and urbanization worldwide.

As American leadership over climate change declines, China has begun to identify itself as a great power by formulating ambitious climate policies.Based on the premise that great powers have unique responsibilities, this book explores how China's rise to great power status transforms notions of great power responsibility in general and international climate politics in particular. The author looks empirically at the Chinese party-state's conceptions of state responsibility, discusses the influence of those notions on China's role in international climate politics, and considers both how China will act out its climate responsibility in the future and the broader implications of these actions. Alongside the argument that the international norm of climate responsibility is an emerging attribute of great power responsibility, Kopra develops a normative framework of great power responsibility to shed new light on the transformations China's rise will yield and the kind of great power China will prove to be.The book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, China studies, foreign policy studies, international organizations, international ethics and environmental politics.

Environmental conflicts are the source of many large-scale popular protests in China, with some protests substantially endangering social order. Such protests have often prompted severe counter measures by both national and local government, but have often then gone on to result in compromises whereby the demands of protesters have been largely met. This book considers the nature of environmental conflicts in China and the way in which national and local governments have handled the situations. It includes detailed case studies of particular conflicts, relates the governance of environmental conflicts in China to wider discussions on the nature of governance and examines under what conditions government in China makes compromises. The book concludes by assessing the lessons for the future.

“Cuts through the cacophony of information, misinformation, and nonsense on China that circulates in our modern world to give us reliable answers to crucial questions… Should be on the shelf of anyone seeking to understand this fast-rising superpower.”—Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of ChinaAfter years of isolation, China is now center stage as an economic and global power, but its rise has triggered wildly divergent views. Is it a model of business efficiency or a threat to American prosperity and security? Thirty-six of the world's leading China experts from Harvard University's renowned Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies answer key questions about this new superpower, distilling a lifetime of scholarship into short and accessible essays about Chinese politics, culture, history, economy, approach to the environment, and foreign policy. Their contributions provide essential insight into the challenges China faces, the aspirations of its people and leaders, its business climate, and the consequences of its meteoric ascent. Many books offer information about China, but few make sense of what is truly at stake.“Impressive… A highly informative, readable collection for scholars and nonscholars alike.”—Publishers Weekly“Provides a more nuanced and accessible perspective on the issues China is facing.”—South China Morning Post“Erudite yet accessible… The topical reach is impressive.”—Jeffrey Wasserstrom, author of China in the 21st Century

When Deng Xiaoping introduced market reforms in the late 1970s, few would have imagined what the next four decades would bring. China's GDP has grown on average nearly 10 percent annually since, and its economy is now the second largest in the world. Forty years ago, the Flying Pigeon bicycle ruled the roads; today, China is the world's largest car market. And if forty years ago you looked out across the Huangpu River from the Bund in Shanghai, you would have seen farmland and a few warehouses and wharves; now you see the stunning, futuristic cityscape of Pudong. The material progress of the past forty years has been staggering -- a source of pride for the Chinese people, as well as a source of legitimacy for the ruling Chinese Communist Party. But that progress has come at great cost: the extreme pollution of China's air, water, and soil has taken a stark toll on human health. In Environmental Pollution in China: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Daniel K. Gardner examines the range of factors -- economic, social, political, and historical -- contributing to the degradation of China's environment. He also covers the public response to the widespread pollution; the measures the government is taking to clean up the environment; and the country's efforts to lessen its dependence on fossil fuels and develop clean sources of energy. Concise, accessible, and authoritative, this book serves as an ideal primer on one of the world's most challenging environmental crises.

Now that Trump has turned the United States into a global climate outcast, will China take the lead in saving our planet from environmental catastrophe? Many signs point to yes. China, the world's largest carbon emitter, is leading a global clean energy revolution, phasing out coal consumption and leading the development of a global system of green finance. But as leading China environmental expert Barbara Finamore explains, it is anything but easy. The fundamental economic and political challenges that China faces in addressing its domestic environmental crisis threaten to derail its low-carbon energy transition. Yet there is reason for hope. China's leaders understand that transforming the world's second largest economy from one dependent on highly polluting heavy industry to one focused on clean energy, services and innovation is essential, not only to the future of the planet, but to China's own prosperity.

The book is written in the backdrop of the environmental impacts of and future requirements from the natural environment for rapid economic growth that has characterized recent economic history of China and India, especially over the past few decades. The environmental impacts of such rapid economic changes have been, more frequently than otherwise, degrading in character. Environmental impacts of economic activities create degraded natural ecosystems by over utilization of nature's provisioning ecosystem services (from Himalaya to the Ocean), as well, by the use of the natural environment as sink for dumping of unmarketable products or unused inputs of economic activities. Such processes affect wide range of ecosystem processes on which the natural environment including human population depend on. Critical perspectives cast by various chapters in this book draw attention to the various ways in which space and power interact to produce diverse geographiesof sustainability in a globalizing world. They also address the questions such as who decides what kind of a spatial arrangement of political power is needed for sustaining the environment. Who stands to gain (or lose) what, when, where, and why from certain geographical areas being demarcated as ecologically unique, fragile and vulnerable environments? Whose needs and values are being catered to by a given ecosystem service? What is the scope for critical inquiry into the ways in which the environment is imagined, represented and resisted in both geopolitical struggles and everyday life? The book provides insights to both academics from diverse disciplines and policy makers, civil society actors interested in mutual exchange of knowledge between China and India.

During the last few decades, China has accomplished unprecedented economic growth and has emerged as the second largest economy in the world. This ‘economic miracle'has led hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, but has also come at a high cost. Environmental degradation and the impact of environmental pollution on health are nowadays issues of the greatest concern for the Chinese public and the government.The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Policy in China focuses on the environmental challenges of China's rapidly growing economy and provides a comprehensive overview of the policies developed to address the environmental crisis. Leading international scholars and practitioners examine China's environmental governance efforts from an interdisciplinary perspective. Divided into five parts, the handbook covers the following key issues: Part I: Development of Environmental Policy in China - Actors and Institutions Part II: Key issues and Strategies for Solution Part III: Policy Instruments and Enforcement Part IV: Related Policy Fields – Conflicts and Synergies Part V: China's Environmental Policy in the International Context This comprehensive handbook will be an invaluable resource to students and scholars of environmental policy and politics, development studies, Chinese studies, geography and international relations.

The worsening environmental crisis has become a serious threat to mankind. The search for a solution to this crisis must begin by understanding its causes. Taking an eco-socialist perspective, The Ecological Crisis and the Logic of Capital explores the logic of capitalism as a fundamental cause of today's environmental crisis, in particular the thirst for profit and the capitalist mode of production. By demonstrating the inherent antagonism between capital and ecology, this book argues that proposals to resolve the crisis within the capitalist system are utopian, that proposed remedies relying on scientific progress, alternative energies, low-carbon technologies or the introduction of ecological ethics and new attitudes toward Nature into market mechanisms are doomed to failure without a radical overhaul of the principles that govern capitalism.

This book focuses on how to create an environmentally friendly society in China from the viewpoint of environmental law and policy. The authors accessed a great number of valuable sources not available in English, and interviewed various scholars and public officials, in order to analyze the environmental policies in China while comparing some of the features to Japan. The book stresses the importance of introducing a brand-new policy of central and local government, and analyses why these policies have not been executed effectively in the local society. In addition to the economy-oriented policy and spirit of the Chinese nation, which are the main causes, this book also highlights shortcomings in the inspection system, information management, and the extremely low degree of public participation as important aspects to focus on in order to tackle the current problems. The individual chapters will help readers to understand the environmental issues in China in depth, and provide guidance on resolving the issues in China and in developing countries that are now or soon will be facing the challenge of combining economic growth and environmental improvement. Air, water and soil pollution are serious challenges in China. The deterioration of the environment often leads to rioting that influences social stability, which is also a great concern to foreign investors. This book will be of interest to a professional audience such as policymakers, journalists, members of environmental NGOs, managers and employees who do business with China, as well as academic researchers and students.

This book explores how far the concept of fragmented authoritarianism remains valid as the key concept for understanding how the Chinese political process works. It contrasts fragmented authoritarianism, which places bureaucratic bargaining at the centre of policy-making, arguing that the goals and interests of the implementing agencies have to be incorporated into a policy if implementation is to be secured, with other characterisations of China's political process. Individual chapters consider fragmented authoritarianism at work in a range of key policy areas, including energy issues, climate change and environmental management, financial reform, and civil-military relations. The book also explores policy making at the national, provincial, city and local levels; debates how far the model of fragmented authoritarianism is valid in its current form or whether modifications are needed; and discusses whether the system of policy making and implementation is overcomplicated, unwieldy and ineffective or whether it is constructive in enabling widespread consultation and scope for imagination, flexibility and variation.

This article provides an analytical overview of major works on the topic of environmental governance in China, with a particular emphasis on studies examining policies during the reform era (post-1978). We begin by exploring the rise of China's “environmental state” and the various institutional and political factors that shape state behavior. Next, we describe the complex relationship between the Chinese state and society, analyzing studies related to environmental public opinion, citizen action, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), green civil society, the role of the media, and China's judiciary. Finally, we conclude by reviewing research on market-based mechanisms of environmental governance in China, including emissions trading schemes, environmental transparency, corporate information disclosure, and green finance.

How Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and China deal with such urban environmental issues as ports, goods movement, air pollution, water quality, transportation, and public space.Over the past four decades, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and key urban regions of China have emerged as global cities—in financial, political, cultural, environmental, and demographic terms. In this book, Robert Gottlieb and Simon Ng trace the global emergence of these urban areas and compare their responses to a set of six urban environmental issues.These cities have different patterns of development: Los Angeles has been the quintessential horizontal city, the capital of sprawl; Hong Kong is dense and vertical; China's new megacities in the Pearl River Delta, created by an explosion in industrial development and a vast migration from rural to urban areas, combine the vertical and the horizontal. All three have experienced major environmental changes in a relatively short period of time. Gottlieb and Ng document how each has dealt with challenges posed by ports and the movement of goods, air pollution (Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and urban China are all notorious for their hazardous air quality), water supply (all three places are dependent on massive transfers of water) and water quality, the food system (from seed to table), transportation, and public and private space. Finally they discuss the possibility of change brought about by policy initiatives and social movements.

The Three Gorges dam, currently being constructed on the Yantgze River in China, is controversial both inside and outside China, particularly because of the large number of people to be resettled (officially 1.2 million) and the environmental impacts. Using material previously unavailable in any Western language, it analyses the Chinese discussions over policy-making for the resettlement process and impacts. It concludes that the environment and resettlement policies have been linked in a new way in this project. However, despite these positive developments, it argues that the social impacts from resettlement have not yet reached a high level of political attention and that the Chinese authorities need to acknowledge that resettlement has social costs. The book provides an understanding of the social, political and economic factors of one of the largest and most controversial development projects currently being implemented. It also sheds light on China's policy-making procedures and political priorities over the past decade.

This book explores the political aspects of China's climate change policy, focusing on the newly established carbon markets and carbon trading schemes. Lo makes a case for understanding the policy change in terms of discourse and in relation to narratives of national power and development.

Water pollution is one of the most serious problems plaguing China today with millions of citizens drinking water unfit for consumption. These abysmal conditions have fuelled increasing social discontent, as people become more concerned by the need to address the pressing issues of water pollution, scarcity, and waste management.This book describes how and why China has ended up in such a dire situation, what the government is doing to address the problem and the difficulties encountered in attempting to reduce pollution. The analysis is based on both gray literature (newspaper articles, NGO reports, Chinese government information) and on academic studies. The gray literature gives a voice to those who suffer from the pollution, their advocates, and government officers, and allows the reader to better grasp the conditions on the ground, and the impact of the air pollution among the people in different areas in China. The academic literature adds a theoretical perspective and brings these different case studies into a broader context. This book will be of great interest to students of environmental pollution and contemporary Chinese studies looking for an introduction to the topic, as well as researchers looking for an analysis of China's environmental problems.

This book looks into the increasing conflict between the demand of economic growth and the already fragile ecological system condition in China. The prolonged urbanization process has escalated the erosion of natural environments and is increasing energy consumption. China's role as a “world plant” is also demanding more and more resource supply as well as energy consumption. This book argues that to correctly respond to these emerging issues, apart from upgrading industry and improves environmental protection techniques, China needs to establish an “ecological civilization” that provides an ideological basis for the construction of a green low-carbon model of economic growth.

Through numerous color figures and tables, this book presents the most up-to-date knowledge on climate and environmental change in China. It documents the evidence and attribution of climate and environmental changes in the past few decades and discusses the impacts of climate change on environments, economy, and society. The book further provides projections of climate change and its impacts in the future. Finally, it offers the climate change mitigation and adaption technologies with strategic options which will be of interest for policy makers, researchers and the general public as well.

China has been subject to floods, droughts and heat waves for millennia; these hazards are not new. What is new is how rapidly climate risks are changing for different groups of people and sectors. This is due to the unprecedented rates of socio-economic development, migration, land-use change, pollution and urbanisation, all occurring alongside increasingly more intense and frequent weather hazards and shifting seasons. China's leadership is facing a significant challenge – from conducting and integrating biophysical and social vulnerability and risk assessments and connecting the information from these to policy priorities and time frames, to developing and implementing policies and actions at a variety of scales. It is within this challenging context that China's policy makers, businesses and citizens must manage climate risk and build resilience. This book provides a detailed study of how China has been working to understand and respond to climatic risk, such as droughts and desertification in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia to deadly typhoons in the mega-cities of the Pearl River Delta. Using research and data from a wide range of Chinese sources and the Adapting to Climate Change in China (ACCC) project, a research-to-policy project, this book provides a fascinating glimpse into how China is developing policies and approaches to manage the risks and opportunities presented by climate change. This book will be of interest to those studying global and Chinese climate change policy, regional food, water and climate risk, and to policy advisors.

This volume of the Chinese Research Perspectives on the Environment series is a translation of selections from the 2014 or the 9th edition of the Annual Report on Environment Development of China. Friends of Nature, which has been organizing the writing and compilation of the Annual Report, is the first and continues to be one of the most influential Chinese environmental NGO.Articles in the current volume, written by a group of academics, independent scholars, activists and journalists cover recent development in a host of environment-related issues in China, including water and air pollution, the evolving role of NGO, pollution's impact on human health, progress in environmental legislation and species protection, and the environmental consequences of poor urban planning.