Hong Kong can contribute to fighting climate change. As a developing country, China is committed to cutting carbon intensity - the amount of carbon produced for each unit of national income - by 40 to 45 per cent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels, rather than making straight emissions cuts. Hong Kong, as the most advanced and wealthiest part of China, can work on reducing emissions now.
China's efforts to fight climate change are often unappreciated. Developed countries want China do 'more' while Beijing feels it is doing as much as it can. China still needs to complete power systems, rail and road networks, ports and airports, plus an industrial infrastructure, so it is unable to pinpoint a carbon-emissions reduction target that can be achieved in the next few years. It needs room to achieve its development goals to become a middle-income society. Thus, China's policies will cut energy intensity while total carbon emissions will still rise, but at a far slower rate.
To cut energy intensity by 20 per cent between 2006 and 2010 under the current five-year plan, the central government has targeted state-owned industries - the largest energy consumers - to deliver most of the gains. By reducing energy intensity alone, China can save 620 million tonnes of coal in five years, equivalent to 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon emissions.
Other measures to improve energy efficiency include new fuel-economy standards for vehicles, improved building codes, investments in ultra-efficient conventional coal power plants and new grids, energy and fuel-price reform, fiscal incentives for renewable power, and innovation in areas such as thin-film solar panels, advanced batteries, hybrid vehicles and carbon capture.
The next five-year plan, from 2011 to 2015, will set out proposals to cut energy intensity even further. Strategies to achieve this include increasing zero- and low-carbon energy production, and planting more forest cover to be used as carbon sinks. For example, by 2020, China's share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption will probably rise to more than 15 per cent, from 7 per cent today. Hundreds of billions of yuan are being invested in wind, solar, small-scale hydro, biomass and nuclear power.
Despite these impressive efforts, it is too early to say when China's carbon emissions will peak. Debates among Chinese experts indicate it could be between 2030 and 2035, when the country has had the chance to build out its infrastructure, after which emissions could start to decline. This represents a breathtaking pace. But pressure to act even faster will continue as China's total carbon emissions keep rising - it is already the world's biggest emitter.
