Gloria Jean Gong and Dr. Zeng Ping, Asian and Near Eastern Languages
As a fellow in the BYU Chinese Flagship Program, I chose Chinese environmental and sustainable development policy as my research focus. Working under Professor Gary Bryner in the political science department and Professors Zeng Ping and Ni Tingting in the Chinese Department I completed an honors thesis on China’s compliance with international climate change treaties. While researching the literature review section of the thesis, it became apparent that while enormous amounts of research is currently being done on China’s role in the international climate change regime, there are few resources detailing the development of China’s policy with regards to climate change.
This study utilized both English and Chinese-language documents to analyze current Chinese climate change policies. It described the historical trajectory of Chinese environmental policy since 1972, tracing the evolution of the “common but differentiated responsibilities” principle and of the demand for technology transfers and access to international funds. This study also examined reports from the World Bank, China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), explicating how recommendations from influential organizations may impact China’s future policy trajectory. Most surprisingly, the conclusion of this study was that China, while retaining much of its former stance on climate change, is also increasingly warming to taking bold actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This conclusion may belie popular conceptions of the threat China poses as the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, though the study emphasizes the complexity of the underlying issues.
Based on English and Chinese-language research into current scholarship and historical policy, this study identified the following five elements as impacting China’s policy on climate change: economic development, domestic goals, UN framework, allocation of responsibility, and international cooperation, tracing the historical development of China’s current stance toward climate change. I hope that this study can provide an historical framework of changes and consistencies in China’s policy stance towards climate change since 1972 as well as offer insight into the factors influencing China’s participation in a post-Kyoto climate change accord.
Areas of possible further research include more in-depth analysis of the socio-economic factors impacting China’s stance on a post-Kyoto climate change accord and research into the domestic factors impacting implementation. Implementation at regional levels often runs headlong into local protectionism, one of the most daunting challenges facing environmental protection in China. Under pressure to grow their GDPs local governments often privilege industrial development over environmental protection, despite national or even local regulations. Government structure also inhibits effective environmental protection. Distribution of authority, incentive structures and the limits of the central government’s power limit the power of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and of local environmental protection bureaus in pursuing effective regulation. I hope that my year-long research in China beginning in August 2009 will allow me to explore in more detail the impact of township and village enterprises on environmental and sustainable development policy implementation.
One of the most beneficial aspects of this research project was the chance to work one-on-one with native Chinese professors who mentored my Chinese-language research. Professor Ni Tingting was especially helpful in pointing out differences between western and Chinese scholarship, and in shedding light on relevant topics. It was also helpful to conduct this research within the framework of the Chinese Flagship Program, which required participating students to produce weekly reports in Chinese on Chinese scholarship. The bi-lingual nature of the research allowed me to examine policy documents and reports published by the Chinese government that have not been translated into English yet as well as compare differences between the English translations and the original Chinese versions.
This research served as the core of my honors thesis, titled “China’s Environmental Policy and International Climate Change Treaty Compliance.” The results were presented at the Western Regional Honors Conference in Spokane, Washington and at the 2009 Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research. It was also accepted for presentation at the international conference “China and Global Climate Change” hosted by the Centre for Asian Pacific Studies of Lingnan University in Hong Kong. I will be presenting the results of my study through electronic participation in the conference in June 2009.