“National Plan for Addressing Climate Change (2014-2020)” was released recently by National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). As China’s first national special plan to address climate change, it puts forward the guiding ideology, objectives and requirements, policy guidance, key tasks and safeguards for adapting to climate change.
According to the Plan, China sets a target of lowering the country’s carbon dioxide emission per unit of GDP by 40%-50% by 2020 based on the 2005 level, increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 15% by 2020, and expanding the forest coverage by 40 million hectares and timber reserve by 1.3 billion cubic meters compared with that of 2005. In 2020, the industrial structure and energy structure will be further optimized, energy saving and carbon reduction in industry, architecture, traffic, public institutions and other key areas will achieve impressive successes.
In the section of optimizing energy structure, the Plan puts forward to expand the application field of solar thermal technology, support the development of solar thermal electricity demonstration projects. In 2020, the installed capacity of solar power is projected to reach 100 million kW, and the installation area of solar thermal utilization is expected to reach 100 million square meters. In the development of green buildings, the Plan requires that mandatory measures for solar energy popularization and application should be enacted in solar energy rich region. In 2020, urban green buildings are expected to account for 50% in new buildings. Energy saving renovation of public buildings should be sped up, and related department should monitor the key energy consumption buildings dynamically. In terms of key low-carbon technology, advanced solar energy power, wind power, large scale renewable energy storage and grid technology, passive green and low-carbon building technology are included.
NDRC asked all localities and government departments to fully understand the importance of addressing climate change, study and formulate specific measures to implement the Plan, increase financial and policy support so as to ensure the accomplishment of all targets and tasks.
