SOAS Research Online

Abstract

China has been quite actively engaging in reducing its carbon emissions. In 2016, China set the goal to cut its CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65% from 2005 level by 2030, aiming to increase non-fossil fuel sources in primary energy consumption to about 20% by the same date. To deal with the striking air pollution problem in megacities such as Beijing, Shanghai, China is shifting on renewables, leading the world’s investments in renewable sectors, such as wind, solar and marine, guided by its 13th Five-Year Plan. Innovation is at the heart of the new plan. The core strategy is to lift up research and development in the country, through integrated solutions that can create new growth opportunities while addressing the ecological constraints and increasing costs of growth. In this talk, we will address how Chinese local governments address the ecological and environmental constraints and how they coordinate with local stakeholders. Based on interviews and focus groups with key experts and stakeholders, we are interested in the application of the dynamic adaptive policy pathways and consider if this approach matches the process of existing decision-making or may help support decision-making under uncertain regional changes in future.