The Chinese can help reduce emissions by adjusting model lifestyle, Head of SCCS says in BBC climate change debate

8/12/2009

The Chinese can help reduce emissions by adjusting model lifestyle, Head of SCCS says in BBC climate change debate

© Andy Simmonds/BBC

The Chinese could play a part in reducing CO2 emissions by adjusting to a healthy and sustainable way of living rather than aspire towards big cars and houses, as experts come to a conclusion that global warming is no doubt caused by human activities, Professor Shujie Yao, Head of the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies (SCCS), said yesterday at a landmark BBC web and broadcast debate on climate change at The University of Nottingham.

The Chinese debate was organised by SCCS – a leading China research centre -- and BBC’s Chinese Service to coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on 7 December 2009.  Prof Yao, Professor of Economics and Chinese Sustainable Development at Nottingham University, joined Dr Sheng Xiangyu, Associate Director at Scott Wilson’s Environment and Natural Resources Group, and Christian Ellermann, Doctoral Researcher at the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University and a consultant on energy and climate strategy for Ecofys, on the expert panel to address questions and discuss in particular the role of China – the world’s biggest CO2 emitter – in dealing with the global environmental challenge.

From left: Xiangyu Sheng, Shujie Yao, Christian Ellermann, Le An and Kai Lu © Andy Simmonds/BBC

Yesterday’s debate was presented wholly in Mandarin by Le An and Kai Lu of the BBC Chinese Service, which was attended by about 60 students and staff of Nottingham University.  During the 1 ½-hour programme, members of the audience were invited to express their outlooks and personal experiences of climate change among other topics. The presenters also interacted via video-conferencing with BBC Chinese Service correspondents who were reporting out of Copenhagen, the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu and the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

© Andy Simmonds/BBC

Noting a gap between the views of developed and developing countries on how to slow global warming and who should bear a greater responsibility, Prof Yao said it was necessary that people change their understanding of the global issue and to reflect that in their day-to-day lives. He suggested learning from the Hong Kong and Singapore models of development, whereby big houses and car ownership were discouraged.

“Government policy needs public support,” Prof Yao said. “China’s population is very big while the density is very high, so it needs a different model. We must never learn from the US, especially its carbon-emissions habits.”

Prior to the debate, Prof Yao had underscored the importance of the climate change issue for China and the rest of the world, with the country having overtaken the US as the biggest CO2 emitter. According to Prof. Yao’s forecasts, the Chinese economy is about to overtake Japan and despite the current financial crisis, China will still achieve GDP growth of 8 percent partly due to the huge 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package and partly due to a substantially-more-than-usual bank lending package of 1 trillion yuan.

© Andy Simmonds/BBC

The critical question was whether China will be able to maintain its high growth without adding more carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the environment, Prof Yao said. This would imply that China would have to improve its industrial efficiency and to use more advance technology and employ alternative cleaner energy sources, with a greater imperative for international cooperation.  

Link to the BBC Chinese Service reports on the debate: http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/indepth/2009/12/091207_climate_debate.shtml

~ENDS~