Since economic reforms began in 1978, China's urban population has increased by half a billion. Over the next 20 years, cities will likely add another 300 million people through local population growth, migration and the integration of nearby rural areas. Cities account for the majority of resource use and pollution so achieving greener growth will depend on developing and implementing a more sustainable urbanization model. China's leaders have responded to these challenges with ambitious goals and comprehensive environmental laws and regulations. These have so far not significantly reduced the harm from air, water and soil pollution: in large measure because China's green governance does not match its green ambitions. Drawing on the World Bank's work on green growth and a recent joint urbanization study by the Development Research Center of China's State Council and the World Bank, this paper reviews recent academic research on green governance in urban China and discusses its main implications in the context of emerging global green growth concepts.
The paper appears in the Special Issue: Climate Change and Green Growth: New Thinking.
Green growth cannot succeed without significant changes in the education system and the closely related social division of labor. This paper combines historical evidence and a game-theoretic analysis to study the relation between vocational education and green growth. It is found that a low-vocation and a high-vocation equilibrium can be distinguished in the interplay between education and labor markets, and that a high-vocation equilibrium is better suited for green growth. At the present stage of development, there are tendencies in both directions in China. Therefore, China has the possibility to successfully implement a green growth strategy by developing a strong vocational education with Chinese characteristics.
The paper appears in the Special Issue: Climate Change and Green Growth: New Thinking.
China needs to reduce its carbon emissions if global climate change mitigation is to succeed. Conventional economic analysis views cutting emissions as a cost, creating a collective action problem. However, decarbonization can improve productivity and provide co-benefits that accord with multiple national policy objectives. We track China's progress in reducing the emissions intensity of the economy, and construct a macro scenario with China's carbon emissions peaking in the 2020s. Investment in greater energy productivity and economic restructuring away from heavy industries can bring productivity gains, and decarbonization of energy supply has important co-benefits for air pollution and energy security. Combined with lower climate change risks and the likelihood that China's actions will influence other countries, this suggests that cutting carbon emissions is not only in China's self-interest but also in the global interest. To properly identify the true costs and benefits of climate change action requires new thinking in economic analysis.
The paper appears in the Special Issue: Climate Change and Green Growth: New Thinking.
Green growth is a relatively new concept aimed at focusing attention on achieving sustainable development through the efficient use of environmental assets without slowing economic growth. This paper presents a real-world application of the concept, and identifies viable policy options for achieving a complementary environmental regulatory framework that minimizes output and employment losses. The analysis utilizes macro level data from the Turkish economy, and develops an applied general equilibrium model to assess the impact of a selected number of green policy instruments and public policy intervention mechanisms, including market-based incentives designed to accelerate technology adoption and achieve higher employment and sustainable growth patterns.
