China’s new, high-profile enthusiasm for a green revolution, including a carbon tax and trial carbon trading scheme, reflects strategic concerns that extend well beyond the boundaries of climate change and the desire for a cleaner world, says Graham Lloyd at the Australian. Both welcomed and greeted with some suspicion, China’s internal decisions on carbon pricing cannot be separated from the bigger questions of global trade and reciprocal market access. China’s primary objective is not necessarily to save carbon but to bolster its economic opportunity. Being seen as a co-operative global citizen will be central to China’s long-term ability to preserve good relations while being the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide. Further economic opportunity comes from keeping China the world’s leading supplier of renewable energy technologies, such as wind and solar. China’s low starting price of $1.59 per tonne of carbon suggests the economic imperative and good public relations are more important than how much carbon emissions is ultimately saved. And the carbon tax announcement coincides with a series of escalating trade wars between China and western nations over wind and solar power, and air travel.
In any case, it is clear that China views its push on clean energy as a triple win, in terms of global economic competition, mediating climate change, geopolitical advantage.
Source:
China’s strategic change on climate has wider aim. China’s new, high-profile enthusiasm for a green revolution, including a carbon tax and trial carbon trading scheme, reflects strategic concerns that extend well beyond the boundaries of climate change and the desire for a cleaner world. The Australian http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/chinas-strategic-change-on-climate-has-wider-aim/story-e6frg6z6-1226268057542
