China’s energy policies and strategies for climate change and energy security

Abstract

Abstract National energy security, parallel with the ultimate goal of emissions reductions, is of utmost priority for the Chinese government. In order to comply with the requirements set by the Kyoto Protocol, the Chinese government announced, on 25 November 2009, that 2020’s CO2 emissions would be reduced by 40–45 per cent in accordance with the data collected from 2005. Said goal was met three years ahead of schedule. Even in light of such an accomplishment, however, commentators suggest that the overall nationally determined contributions (NDCs) made by the Parties belonging to the Paris agreement are not enough to reduce global warming by even 2°C. This article focuses on the concept of energy security in assessing whether, and how, the priorities related to climate change are gradually changing. After analysing climate change’s impact on China, conducted via an analysis of the study’s available literature and through the support of international data, this article mainly focuses on the concept of energy security, itself. Under the second section, based on the examination of China’s efforts to transition towards a low-carbon economy, the authors provide a holistic definition of energy security through the lens of three dimensions: energy supply security, energy economy and energy ecological security. The third section, in turn, addresses the relationship between energy security and climate change. The results presented in the conclusion insist that, in order to strengthen environmental protection in China, it is crucial to reform the highly inefficient and strictly regulated national energy market. In doing so, China’s transition to a low-carbon society and economy could prove less painful, as China’s available resources offer the potential for a strengthened ecological dimension and sustained socio-economic development.