The Nexus of Energy Efficiency and Air Strategies for Buildings
China accounts for about half of the world’s new building area and the building operation accounts for one-fifth of the country’s carbon emissions. Therefore, it can benefit greatly from building energy efficiency. China connected with California's energy efficiency policies in the 1980s and developed building and appliance efficiency standards. While China’s initial standards built off of those of California’s, some of California’s recent efficiency standards (for example, for computer monitors) were built upon those of China’s. Continued dialogue and competition between California and China will help develop groundbreaking energy efficiency policies and reduce emissions from buildings.
California’s Efforts to Reduce Methane Emissions from Landfills
Our new California-China Climate Institute report, produced with colleagues from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, analyzes policies and programs, implementation mechanisms, and lessons-learned from California in reducing methane emissions from the solid waste sector. California’s lessons and experiences provide insights for other regions on best practices that could be adopted, as well as existing challenges and gaps to achieve methane reductions.
Why Wind and Solar Are Ready to Power China’s Next 40 Years
The recently concluded COP27 international climate change summit in Sharm El Sheik offered world leaders, experts, and activists an opportunity to stop and take stock one year after a landmark agreement to “phase down” coal emissions. Already, there is reason for concern.
US and China: climate collaboration on the ground
As the governments of China and the United States stall over climate cooperation, subnational entities — including states, provinces, cities and universities — are pressing forwards and finding common ground. They are uniquely positioned to test, accelerate and form partnerships on new ideas and policies.
The Challenge of Achieving China’s Carbon Neutrality Target
The China Energy Outlook 2022, a new report published by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), looks comprehensively at recent energy use and related policy in China, using scenario modeling to evaluate potential future pathways. The report shows that in the near term energy-consuming activities in China will need to be reduced, conducted more efficiently, and produced by renewable energy sources at unprecedented levels if China is going to be successful in turning around its current upward trajectory of both energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gasses.
U.S. - China Subnational Climate Cooperation - Updates, Progress, and Recommendations: Part Two
The first blog in this two-part series, provided a brief update on the state of U.S.-China subnational climate cooperation and reviewed domestic progress on climate policy in the U.S. This second and final piece, provides more detail on subnational climate action and progress in China, and concludes with suggestions on how to re-invigorate U.S.-China cooperation and facilitate greater mutual understanding.
U.S. - China Subnational Climate Cooperation - Updates, Progress, and Recommendations: Part One
U.S.-China subnational climate cooperation has faced significant headwinds over the past few years — from the impacts of COVID-19 which largely froze travel between the U.S. and China, to the broader instability of the U.S.-China relationship.
Reimagining Nature-based Climate Solutions to Meet Our Policy Goals
This blog distills a research paper advancing a new Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) Governance Framework, to support subnational policymakers in integrating nature-based strategies into climate policy planning processes. NbS approaches such as regenerative agriculture, forest restoration, and green infrastructure, confer concurrent benefits within and beyond the landscapes they improve.
Opportunities for California to Learn from the European Union
California is often cited a leader in subnational climate leadership and action. However, an in-depth analysis of California's climate policy on a sector-by-sector basis exposes a number of policy gaps that still need to be filled and there is much California could learn from other jurisdictions, including the European Union.
Governing Emissions Trading in California and China
Carbon markets are at a crossroads. As of 2021, 30 emissions trading systems were in force globally, covering 16–17% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Last year, climate negotiators in Glasgow finalized the Paris Agreement rulebook for international cooperation through carbon markets, clearing the way for the expansion of emissions trading and carbon pricing worldwide
Carrying the Freight
A quarter of carbon emissions from transportation come from heavy-duty trucks. They are also disproportionate sources of air pollution. Addressing these emissions will be challenging and will require a multi-prong strategy.
Electric Vehicle Growth in China: What’s Next?
2021 witnessed significant growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales in China. The share of new energy vehicles in new passenger vehicle sales more than doubled from 8.4% at the beginning of the year to 20.6% by year’s end. This EV sales surge was driven by both policy incentives and growing consumer demand.
Insights from States’ Leadership in Climate Action
In 2017, in the wake of former President Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, states, cities, businesses, and other non-state leaders – often referred to as “subnationals” – stepped in to fill the void. Now with the U.S. federal government re-engaged with the world on climate, new research from the California-China Climate Institute examines how U.S. subnationals are continuing to advance climate leadership and action at the state level.
A Pathway For China To Peak Emissions by 2025
In September 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping laid out China’s overarching climate policy goals: to peak emissions before 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. China’s recently-updated Nationally-Determined Contribution, submitted to the UN in November 2021, reiterates these objectives.
More than Numbers: China’s New Climate Plans
At the recently-convened COP26 climate talks, China's Special Envoy for Climate, Xie Zhenhua, highlighted the country’s recent progress in working towards its climate goals with not just rhetoric but action.
China’s power crunch is another reminder to move away from its carbon-intensive growth path
Since August, more than 20 Chinese provinces experienced industrial or residential power crunches, including China’s major manufacturing hubs: Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu. Traffic lights went dark, air conditioners stopped, and assembly lines paused.
The Devil's in the Details: Assessing China's Pledge to End Overseas Coal Construction
Last month, President Xi Jinping addressed the United Nations General Assembly via video message and sent shockwaves around the world, announcing that his country will stop building coal-fired power plants overseas
California-China Collaborative Action: A Key Pathway to Accelerate Nature-based Climate Solutions
How can forests, wetlands, and farms provide solutions to meet our climate goals? How do we create and implement policies to support the ecosystems that we depend on to sequester carbon, protect coastal cities from floods and heat waves, and provide us with clean air and water? Answering these questions is at the center of the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the California-China Climate Institute’s (CCCI) ongoing work to advance nature-based climate solutions (NbS) in California and China.
Priorities for U.S.-China Subnational Partnerships on Carbon Neutrality
Recent carbon and climate neutrality commitments from a growing number of countries and regions —China, the EU, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, the UK, and the U.S. — represent a sea change in global momentum for tackling climate change.
Emerging best-practices for reducing short-lived climate pollutants
The California-China Climate Institute has released a new report outlining avenues for gaining traction and international collaboration on short-lived climate pollutants. The report offers opportunities for reducing short-lived climate pollutants for China and highlight the importance of multi-policy and multi-gas strategies by drawing out examples of these approaches from California, Canada, and the European Union.