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Preparing for the Post-Kyoto Era
Greening of Energy Law in China
Prof. Dr. QIN Tianbao, Assistant Dean
School of Law, Wuhan University
Climate Law in Developing Countries Conference
University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law
September 26-28, 2008
Outline
1. The Relationship between of the greening of Energy Law and
Climate change
2. The greening of Guiding Ideas of China’s Energy Law
3 The Greening of Energy Legal System in China
4. The Greening of Energy Legal Regimes in China
5. The Barriers to the Greening of Energy Law
6. Prospect
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Outline
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1. The Relationship between the Greening of
Energy Law and Climate Change
1.1 The definition of “Greening” of Energy Law
The “greening” means overall revolution of the
guiding ideas, fundamental principles and legal
systems of the energy law through the
incorporation of the environmental values.
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to realize the safe, effective and consistent
energy supply
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to realize the sustainability of energy (the
coordination of economic development,
environmental protection, and social progress).
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1. The Relationship between the Greening of
Energy Law and Climate Change
1.2 The Evolution of the Greening of Energy Law
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the external reason lies in the degradation of
the energy-related environmental problems.
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1. The Relationship between the Greening of
Energy Law and Climate Change
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the specific features of the energy law play the
internal role. (1) the exploration of energy
resource -“outputting” - ecological destroy; and
the conversion and utilization - “inputting” pollution. (2) public interest constitute the
common grounds and purposes of energy law
and environmental law.
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1. The Relationship between the Greening of
Energy Law and Climate Change
1.3 The Greening of Energy Law in China in the
post-Kyoto Era
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The energy law can be an important tool to
regulate GHG through energy conservation,
energy efficiency and the development of new
and alternative energy sources.
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China, as one of main emitters of GHGs,
understands clearly its crucial role at the
international level under the principle of
common but differentiated responsibilities.
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1. The Relationship between the Greening of
Energy Law and Climate Change
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2. The Greening of Guiding Ideas of China’s
Energy Law
Energy problems involve energy industry itself, but
also are related closely to economical security,
environment protection, and social allocation.
Accordingly, energy law shall be a body of
legal rules regulating the whole energy lifecircle.
Therefore, the previous one-fold approach to is being
transited to a holistic and integrated approach.
Such changes correspond to the evolution of
guiding ideas of energy law.
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2. The Greening of Guiding Ideas of China’s
Energy Law
security of energy supply --- security of energy
supply and security of energy use --sustainability of energy
Sustainability of energy is a comprehensive concept
which encompasses economic, environmental
and social aspects. Its economic aspect calls for
secure energy, its environmental aspect needs
clean energy, and its social aspect requires
equitable energy.
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2. The Greening of Guiding Ideas of China’s
Energy Law
2.1 Secure Energy
To ensure energy’s sustainable supply and enhance
the capacity of the domestic supply, China’s
energy law aims at optimizing energy structure,
improving market-based mechanism, managing
energy demand, encouraging innovation of
energy technology.
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2. The Greening of Guiding Ideas of China’s
Energy Law
2.2 Clean Energy
China plans to enact or have enacted the (Basic)
Energy Law, Energy Conversion Law,
Renewable Energy Law, have established many
new legal regimes; and have reformed its
administrative management system.
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2. The Greening of Guiding Ideas of China’s
Energy Law
2.3 Equitable Energy
equitable energy allocation and effective accession
for those poor or marginalized people where
usually are rich forest areas are very important.
The development of methane and other new,
alternative energy resources might reduce their
dependence on the traditional ones, such as
firewood and accordingly reduce deforestation,
which could increase sinks of greenhouse gas.
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3. The Greening of Energy Legal System in
China
3.1 The Drafting of the Basic Energy Law
In 2006, China began to draft the legislation
of the Energy Law. And it is expected
to be approved and enter into force by
2009.
Its purposes, fundamental principles and
specific regimes all reflect the idea of
SD, aiming at achievement of the
balance between energy and economic,
social and environmental development.
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3. The Greening of Energy Legal System in
China
The coordinated development between the
exploitation and utilization of energy and
protection of ecologic environment is a
fundamental principle of the Energy Law.
To this end, it prescribes company’s environmental
obligations, and requirements on clean energy
development, control of main pollutants, the
ecologic protection and rehabilitation and
financial incentives and disincentives in the
process of energy exploitation and utilization.
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3. The Greening of Energy Legal System in
China
3.2 The Introduction of Renewable Energy Law
Renewable energy is featured as not only its
renewable ability but also its universality and
cleanness, and is related closely to combating
global warming and reducing GHG emission.
China’s 2006 Renewable Energy Law ranks
exploitation and development of renewable
energy as a priority and encourages all kinds of
entities to invest in this field.
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3. The Greening of Energy Legal System in
China
To ensure the effective implementation of the
Renewable Energy Law, China will introduce
12 supporting laws and regulations.
The annul amount of renewable energy utilization, in
2006, is 2000 million tons of standard coal,
accounting for 8% of the total energy
consumption, which steps firmly toward to the
target of 10% of renewable energy among
national energy by the year 2010.
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3. The Greening of Energy Legal System in
China
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3. The Greening of Energy Legal System in
China
3.3 The Amendment of Energy Conservation Law
Energy conservation is a basic policy in China and
also a priority in its energy strategy. In 1989,
China has issued the Energy Conservation Law.
However, many provisions are too general and
vague to carry out, and some key provisions on
energy conservation were absent. Generally
speaking, it could not meet the challenge from
climate change.
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3. The Greening of Energy Legal System in
China
Under this background, China amended the Energy
Conservation Law which entered into enforce
on Oct. 28th 2007.
The revised Energy Conservation Law is expanded
from 50 articles to 87 articles; clarifies further
the competent authority for energy
conservation, strengthens the legal
responsibilities; adds requirements of energy
conservation for construction, transportation
and governmental institutions.
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3. The Greening of Energy Legal System in
China
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3. The Greening of Energy Legal System in
China
3.4 The Promulgation of other Energy-related
Laws and Regulations
China is planning to amend its Coal Law and
Electricity Law and to enact newly the Oil and
Natural Gas Law and the Atomic Energy Law.
For example, considering nuclear power is a new and
clean energy, and won’t cause any pollution to
the atmosphere. Development of nuclear power
actively should be an essential policy in
China's energy development.
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4. The Greening of Energy Legal Regimes in
China
4.1 Energy-related Ecological Compensation
China’s draft Energy Law states that the State shall
establish the energy-related ecological
compensation regime.
This compensation, on one hand, is to restore the
ecological environment in areas affected, such
as to plant trees to recover the destroyed forests;
on the other hand, to compensate local
communities whose interests has been
decreased and potential opportunities reduced
heavily because of energy activities.
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4. The Greening of Energy Legal Regimes in
China
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4. The Greening of Energy Legal Regimes in
China
4.2 Environmental Impact Assessment
There are two categories of EIA in China, EIF for
planning and EIA for construction projects.
The greenhouse effect is one of the key elements
when evaluating environmental impact on each
energy planning and construction projects.
Therefore, the prevention and mitigation measures
EIA in the report could reduce CO2 and other
GHG emissions, thus effectively combating
climate change from the source.
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4. The Greening of Energy Legal Regimes in
China
4.3 The Public Participation Regime
Public participation to the largest extent is the
necessary requirement to efficiently and
effectively implement energy law.
The draft version of the basic Energy Law was
published in major mass media and internet
calling for comments from general public,
scholars, experts and other stakeholders. It was
always the case when China enacted or
amended other specific energy laws.
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5. The Barriers to the Greening of Energy
Law
5.1 The Dispersive Energy Administration System
A unified and comprehensive energy administration
system will lead to the coordination between
three dimensions of energy sustainability.
In fact, China has reorganized its energy
management agencies several times, but till
now, a unified and comprehensive competent
agency hasn’t been formulated yet at the
national level.
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5. The Barriers to the Greening of Energy
Law
In 2008, the former Energy Bureau of the NDRC
was upgraded to he National Energy Agency, a
vice ministerial-level agency, which integrates
the responsibilities of many other related
agencies.
The new National Energy Agency is mainly
responsible for drafting and implementing
energy-related industrial planning, policies and
standards, developing new and renewable
energy resources and promoting energy
conservation.
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5. The Barriers to the Greening of Energy
Law
It is still far away from the comprehensive system of
energy management. The new Agency might
be still short of authority when it comes to the
energy-related environmental problems or
social problems, such as GHGs reduction.
When it is necessary to coordinate such untraditional
or untypical energy issues between the new
Agency, as a vice ministerial-level institution,
will not be able to act as a peer competitor with
other ministries with higher administrative
position.
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5. The Barriers to the Greening of Energy
Law
5.2 The Behindhand Technology of GHG
Reduction
In China, the behindhand technology applied in
energy production and utilization proves to be
one of important factors leading to low energy
efficiency and abundant GHG emissions.
There is a wide gap between china and those
developed countries; and the backward
technology in key industries in China, with
high energy-consumption, still accounts for the
larger proposition.
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5. The Barriers to the Greening of Energy
Law
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5. The Barriers to the Greening of Energy
Law
5.3 The Weak Awareness of Climate Change
The weak awareness of climate change is always one
of the largest and most profound obstacles to
China’s mitigation and adaptation to climate
change and in the greening of energy law.
Many policy-makers refuse to take preventive
measures for this uncertainty since it is less
urgent and less visual than water pollution, air
pollution and ecological destruction.
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5. The Barriers to the Greening of Energy
Law
The awareness of general public of climate change is
relatively weak.
Some are lake of such idea or simply do not
understand, to whom the intensive education
prove to be particularly necessary; others
possessing stronger notion of climate change
have no idea about how to connect their daily
life behaviors with the issue.
It is essential to apply different educational measures
to different targeted group of people.
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5. The Barriers to the Greening of Energy
Law
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6. Prospect
Nowadays, the process of China’s greening of
energy law is keeping underway and China
gradually follow the pattern of safe, clean, fair
and sustainable energy path, Among others, the
mitigation and adaptation to climate change
become very significant aspects of the greening
of energy law. It shows China’s courage and
positive attitude towards international
obligations in the post-Kyoto era by preparing
ahead.
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6. Prospect
Indeed, it is still necessary for China to overcome
many barriers: to reform the existing energy
administrative system, to promote energy
technological innovation; to enhance decisionmaking capacity and public awareness and to
strengthen international cooperation. Only by
doing so, is China able to greet the advent of
the post-Kyoto era, and develop the green
energy law as predicted.
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Contact Information
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Professor of Environmental Law & International
Law
Assistant Dean, School of Law, Wuhan University
Member, IUCN Commission of Environmental
Law
Member, IUCN Academy of Environmental Law
– Committee on Teaching and Capacity Building
Tel： +86 27 6875 3694
Fax： +86 27 6875 2091
Email: [email protected]
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谢谢！
Thank you!
Merci beaucoup！
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