Combating Climate Change: China's Efforts on Environmental Legislation

摘要

As the largest developing country, China has become a primary focus of discussions about involving developing nations in global climate change mitigation efforts because of the size of its population and its rapid, double-digit economic growth. According to a recent inventory of the International Energy Agency (IEA), China is now the world's largest source of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO_2) emissions, surpassing the United States in 2007 and accounting for 29% of global annual emissions. Excessive CO_2 emissions in China not only contribute to global climate change, but also endanger the lives of countless citizens and sap the nation's economic vitality. In response, the Chinese government has been taking steps in environmental legislation to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to combat climate change. Sine 1994, Chinese lawmakers have increasingly attempted to consider the "triple bottom line" of economic feasibility, environmental capacity, and social equity simultaneously. It is notable that this "triple bottom line" is a crystallization of the dynamic nature of sustainable development, which requires more flexible and lenient jurisprudence and practice.6 However, the concrete application of the "triple bottom line" and the incorporation of sustainable development philosophy into the environmental legislation always bring considerable challenges in practice, given that the conflicts among economy, society, and environment need to be reconciled and balanced appropriately, while stakeholders may resist this reconciliation and balance.