COP18 Side Event: China-US Subnational Cooperation on Low-Carbon Planning

DOHA (Dec. 11, 2012) – During the 18th Climate Change Conference (COP 18) of the United Nations Framework for Combating Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha, Qatar, Global Environmental Institute (GEI) and the US-based think tank Center for Climate Strategies (CCS) cooperated to host a side event on “China, US Showcase Solutions to Climate Action and Cooperation Challenges.”

GEI Program Officer YU Qingchan (L) and CCS President Tom Peterson (Center) on the panel – GEI 2012

Director General of the Department of International Cooperation at the China National Development and Reform Commission, Li Haiyan, stressed that while there are definite differences and disagreements between the US and China on climate change policy and actions, each side must continue to strive for mutual understanding, trust and compromise on key issues related to climate change to promote global emissions reductions.

Cooperation and exchange between the two countries at all levels of government have already begun. The CCS-GEI joint project provides lessons and references to deal with barriers to achieving that cooperation and hopes to further promote progress toward achieving global cooperation and exchange on major climate change.

GEI program officer Yu Qingchan and CCS president, Thomas Peterson, introduced both organizations’ climate change programs and their cooperative efforts in China including their successful inclusion into the China-US Eco-partnership Framework supported by the NDRC and US State Department.

CCS has provided technical assistance to over thirty states in the US on making energy and climate action plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, develop clean energy, increase employment and promote economic growth. The GEI-CCS cooperation on low carbon planning will assist local governments in China to realize their goals of economic growth, energy conservation and carbon intensity reductions.

According to Yu, the majority of the initial work for completing microeconomic data collection and research for the pilot site in Chongqing has been completed and is currently undergoing final review. Chinese experts are currently constructing dynamic input-output tables for the macroeconomic model and will later coordinate with US experts to create a new framework for the model based on the dynamic input-output table.

Additional Speakers at the Side-Event:

• Researcher Zou Lele at the Institute of Policy Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS-IPM) and Vice President of REMI, Billy Leung, discussed cooperation between REMI and CAS-IPM on R&D for the macroeconomic evaluation model.
• Billy Leung introduced the main components and advantages of the REMI model as well as application areas and intended users (government, enterprises, research institutions and NGOs etc.). He also highlighted that the China model will be able to clearly determine how specific policies impact the development of different industries, employment growth, regional trade and overall economic development in both the short and long term.

About the GEI – CCS Project

The cooperative project between CCS and GEI provides methodology for planning and tools for policy quantification. To make local low-carbon development plans implementable and scientific, both cost-benefit analysis of individual policies and regional macroeconomic impact analysis of the entire low carbon development plan are conducted.The methodology

The methodology includes both microeconomic and macroeconomic analysis. Microeconomic analysis takes GHG inventory and forecasts as the first step. Based on stakeholder consultations, the experts complete a comprehensive low-carbon policy catalog, and then quantify emissions reductions, net economic benefit and energy conservation aspects of individual policies. The research on the macroeconomic model will localize the macroeconomic model developed by the US-based company Regional Economic Modeling Inc. (REMI) to fit Chinese economic situations.

The REMI model has already been successfully implemented at the state level in the US to predict changes in tax rates, production impacts of government provided subsidies and other economic policies as well as the impact of resource and environmental policies. The policy quantification resulting from the microeconomic analysis will then be incorporated into the REMI model to evaluate macroeconomic impacts of specific policies. Finally, both the macro and microeconomic analysis will be used to make policy recommendations to provide decision makers with tools and information for low carbon planning.

A sample screen on REMI Modeling – GEI 2012