Newly adopted climate mitigations have caused China’s coal and electricity consumption to fall the first time this century. Coal and heavy industries were the most targeted sectors, which has led to more demand from unconventional oil extraction – extraction that could have unintended negative consequences.

Increasingly, China’s local environmental groups are finding themselves well positioned to ensure governmental support for environmental improvement and accountability. The national government of China has signaled a green light for citizen groups to take an active part in forging a more sustainable development path, but local governments are still unsure of the role that civil society groups can and will play in improving China’s environment.

Chinese economists predict growth will slow from the current 7% to around 5% if China's carbon emissions are to peak in 2030. Qi Ye posits that climate commitment may constrain China’s economic growth rate, but not necessarily growth itself.

The ambitious U.S-China climate proposal created new emissions standards for U.S. domestic power plants, which will reshape the power sector on a state-by-state basis. The 30% CO2 reduction target is significant and won’t come without domestic political opposition, despite the EU’s even more ambitious targets.

The commitments made at the Xi-Obama summit to reduce CO2 emissions are significant yet challenging for both nations to carry out over the next decade. The U.S. faces a more conservative Congress, and China faces the daunting task of creating to hydro and wind energy sources at a large enough scale. Both sides need to deliver, lest one side fault the other for not fulfilling their commitment.

The South-North Water Transfer Project represents an impressive feat in human engineering to bring between 4 and 20 percent of Yangzi river water to the water-scarce North China. However, as Britt Crow-Miller warns, the “band aid” solution could have lasting negative effects for South China communities in years to come.

Since China and the United States are the two biggest national emitters of carbon, the recently announced bilateral agreement is considered essential to concluding a new global accord, because unless Beijing and Washington can resolve their differences, few other countries will agree to mandatory cuts in emissions.

The consensus amongst the political elite in China since the 11th Five Year Programme issued in 2006 has been that climate change is a reality, and that its fiercest impact will fall on their country unless something is done.

The US, China and India compose about half of all global CO2 emissions. Through “dirty coal” import bans and new technological advances, China hopes to decrease its 2020 carbon emissions by 45% from its 2005 levels. Geoff Hiscock stresses that without increased sustainable investment, CO2 emission levels will keep rising.

Can China provide intellectual leadership on climate change and green infrastructure? While Chinese President Xi Jinping may be missing this year’s UN Climate Summit, Stewart Taggart explores the policy mechanisms available to the nation as this year’s host of APEC.