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Key Messages A reason COVID-19 has had such far-reaching impacts is it stems from multiple interconnected risks. The difficulties that policymakers face in managing related risks not only deepen vulnerabilities to COVID-19 but other planetary crises. Explicitly recognizing and acting to achieve the co-benefits of integrated air pollution, climate change, and health policies in the wake of COVID-19 can help policymakers address an air pollution-climate-health crisis. This brief outlines how the 'Triple R framework’—Response, Recovery and Redesign—can help align different government agency and other stakeholder interests behind the kind of integrated clean air, climate, and health policies that can deliver co-benefits. The framework calls for bringing together 1) immediate responses; 2) broader recovery policies backed by stimulus funding, and 3) forward-looking redesigns of infrastructures and institutions. Regional and international organizations could help policymakers achieve co-benefits by demonstrating the application of the 'Triple R framework in diverse contexts.

In recent years, the Chinese government has successfully implemented a range of energy savings and emission reduction policies, including structural adjustments, technological updating, and managerial improvements. Among the areas targeted in these policies, the one with the greatest potential to deliver co-benefits is solar energy. Fortunately, China has begun to realize this potential over the last decade. In 2019, for example, China’s installed solar power capacity reached 204.68 GW or over 8000 times the capacity a decade ago. Meanwhile, solar power generation reached 223.8 TW, representing a nearly 1500-fold increase over the same figure 10 years prior (China Electric Power Yearbook n.d.; China Electricity Council 2018, 2019a, b; NEA 2016).

China’s foreign trade has increased rapidly and made extraordinary achievements, thus becoming one of the three major engines that drive the country’s economy. Since the kickoff of the reform and opening up, particularly since China’s accession to WTO in 2001, the country’s foreign trade has been increasing by 20–30 % annually, the rapidest growth in the world. In 2006, China’s total import and export of merchandise amounted to US$ 1.77 trillion, up 24.5 % over 2005, and the trade surplus reached US$ 150 billion. According to WTO, China’s total foreign trade was expected to exceed that of Germany by the end of 2007. Consequently, China would become the world’s third largest economy after the U.S. and EU. Currently, China’s trade surplus exceeds US$ 200 billion every year. Its foreign exchange reserve is now up to US$ 1.3 trillion, which represents the world’s largest stockpile of foreign exchanges. In addition, foreign direct investment in China has increased at a pace, which exceeded US$ 50 billion in 2003 and reached US$ 61.3 billion in 2006, making China the world’s largest foreign investment destination.

From the perspective of life cycle assessment (LCA), the development, construction, and operation of all kinds of new energy power generation technologies release greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This sparks concerns about the low-carbon nature of the new energy power generation technologies. Based on national and international literature review, this paper estimates and compares the GHG emission factors of traditional thermal power generation and new energy power generation technologies in China with the LCA approach. The GHG mitigation potential of new energy power generation technologies as substitution for traditional thermal power generation in China was evaluated, according to the objectives of new energy power generation of the national development planning. The results show that the GHG emission factors of new energy power generation are much lower than that of traditional thermal power generation even with LCA accounting, and the GHG mitigation potential of new energy substitution is huge. Citation Liu, S.-Q., X.-Q. Mao, Y.-B. Gao, et al., 2012: Life cycle assessment, estimation and comparison of greenhouse gas mitigation potential of new energy power generation in China. Adv. Clim. Change Res., 3(3), doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1248.2012.00147.