Office for Environmental Programs - Theses
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ItemThe challenges of emissions trading in China( 2012)Under the 12`h Five-Year-Plan (FYP), China is moving forward to the implementation of pilot emissions trading scheme (ETS). This would be the first experiment of mandatory ETS in China and also an important sign on the evolution of the climate policy for China. Voluntary emissions trading practices based around Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Voluntary Emissions Reductions (VERs) have existed in China in recent years. By contrast, the upcoming pilot ETSs in China will be mandatory for covered sectors and installations. This research compares the EU ETS and the CCX with the China's proposed mandatory pilot ETSs and existing voluntary ETS respectively. Then, challenges that China's ETS may face can be suggested based on the key criteria come up from the EU ETS and the CCX. The challenges of China's ETS can be found in the respects of the establishment of regulatory contexts, cap setting-up and allowances allocation, designing and implementation of a compliance framework, and establishment and operation of diverse trading mechanisms. When comes to the co-operation and linkage among proposed Chinese pilot ETSs and a future national ETS in China, two most possible scenarios are discussed in the thesis. The first potential scenario is that the national ETS replaces pilot ETSs. The second potential scenario is that pilots are linked directly and then to expand as the national ETS. On the other hand, the potential linkage between China's ETS and the EU ETS can be expected, especially as the European Commission announced that the EU would assist China in establishing the national ETS according to an agreement signed by the EU and China in September 2012. However, there will be several issues existing in the establishment of a linkage. Whether those two ETSs are compatible and the allowances are recognised by each other are the key elements of the potential linkage building between the EU ETS and the future national ETS in China.
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ItemUnlocking the poverty-food-environment trilemma in the Loess Plateau, northwest China( 2011)For centuries the Loess Plateau of northwest China has been suffering from pressing environmental, social and economic challenges. The interlinked problems of extensive soil erosion, food deficiency and chronic poverty on the Plateau have posed a devastating threat to local sustainability and an imperilled menace to life and property safety to downstream waterways alongside the Yellow River. In order to understanding and tackling this trilemma, a small catchment basin, Gaoquan Watershed in hinterland of Loess Plateau's gullied hilly region, was chosen as a research site. Long-term multidisciplinary researches and demonstrations have been carried out with focusing on utilising agricultural resources in a holistic manner. Successful practice of integrated resource management strategy has led this marginal semiarid catchment basin to a way towards sustainable development. By reviewing main technological and managerial aspects of Gaoquan Watershed experiences, this study analyses the matrix of incentives and interests of different stake holders, and provides recommendations of coping with the problems of land degradation, food security and related social consequences in the Loess Plateau from a wider and more integrated perspective.
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ItemUrban xiagang workers' life course experiences and their attitude towards migrant workers( 2012)Between 1998 and 2002, millions of urban workers known as the xiagang were made redundant as a consequence of SOE reforms in China. Since that time workers have had to adjust to working in a new competitive labour market that provided none of the welfare and benefits that the old SOE system did. The labour market experiences of workers from three Chinese cities were analysed to determine their life course trajectories over the 10 year period. Occupational prestige was used to determine whether workers increased, decreased or remained stable with respect to the rank of their job post redundancy. The trajectory for many workers over this period was downward sloping, with many struggling to keep their heads above the poverty line. Some have been able to take advantage of market opportunities through education and training, but many of the workers who were upwardly mobile simply found unskilled jobs that were less tedious than the manual factory work they did pre-redundancy. Mobility up or down was on a minor scale. Most of the xiagang workers are still looking for secure jobs with welfare and benefits so that they can provide for their families, even after ten years in the new system. Many of these workers would prefer to go back to an SOE; however, sector is becoming less of an issue: SOE or private firm will do. As a consequence of the transition of so many workers out of the State system, there is the beginning of a new labour market segmentation developing, with younger, better skilled and educated workers capitalising on opportunities. These workers are feeling optimistic about the future in the open market and are not threatened by migrant workers who fill the ranks of the supplementary service sector and who they feel are contributing to the general increase in prosperity. In conclusion overall the SOE system still dominates workers' mentalities while the new labour market system is benefiting a privileged few.
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ItemImplications of the international legal regime on the domestic biotechnology policy in China( 2007)This note provides an overview of the shift in China's biotechnology policy - from progressive to precautionary - that has happened in the last decade. China has been investing considerably since it started the biotechnology development in the 1980s as a part of the economic reform plan and continues to do so even today. In contrast to the advancement in biotechnology, the policy itself has taken a dramatic shift in 1999, suspending all new authorization of GM crops for commercialization and imposing a tough regulation on biotechnology in general, but in particular with trade. The timing of the strengthening of the regulation coincides with WTO accession and the establishment of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, in turn implies the strong influence of these two international legal regimes have had on the domestic biotechnology policy. This note analyzes the implications of the international legal regimes on the biotechnology policy. International biotechnology debate may have successfully geared the biotechnology policy towards environmental protection; however, further challenge still lies at the implementation stage. Due to the inadequate capacity of the government, the environmental requirements set by the regulation are yet to be realized. Therefore, the next step to be taken by the Chinese government is to focus on capacity building.
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ItemGreen development?: Beijing's air quality policy during and after the 2008 Green Olympics( 2012)Beijing's air quality underwent a radical transformation during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as a result of a series of powerful, direct temporary air quality policies. However, given socio-economic pressures for growth, it proved difficult for the municipal government to maintain those short-term policies after the Olympics. Nevertheless, with guidance towards sustainable development from the national plan, Beijing's emerging policies on energy, construction, and transport have contributed to a gradual recent improvement of air quality. This thesis examines the relevant policies that have been delivered by the government since the Olympics. It seeks to understand the key factors driving the changes of air quality in Beijing, to consider the roles of relevant government authorities, and to explore the potential in Beijing for sustainable green development by modernising ecological governance