A team from China’s Department of Climate Change toured the United States last week hosted by the World Resources Institute. The tour focused on low-carbon development, and the need for a climate-conscious path to urbanize China. China’s urban population is expected to grow to 1 billion people by 2030, with 350 million more people moving from the countryside into cities.
“Sustainability in China, and arguably for the world, hangs in the balance, in how Chinese cities are designed,” said Clayton Lane, Global Lead of WRI’s Sustainable Cities Initiative. “China has a remarkable opportunity here to not repeat the mistakes made in the West.”
The Department of Climate Change rests within the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s chief negotiator on climate change for the country. A guiding policy in China’s Five Year Plan is a green economy with low carbon development, and the country has set targets for low energy intensity and carbon intensity. China is acting on climate change, including recent consideration of a nationwide cap on energy consumption and a resource tax.
Read more about the tour here.
