China has sent mixed signals about its approach to tackle pollution — by announcing zero-tolerance to violators of a stringent environmental law, but the same time seemingly curbing public debate on the subject by pulling out from mainstream video sharing sites a hard-hitting documentary on emissions that had gone viral on the internet.
“We are going to punish, with an iron hand, any violators who destroy ecology or environment, with no exceptions,” said China’s President, Xi Jinping, while reviewing the work report of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) — the official body that exercises administrative and planning control over the Chinese economy.
Mr. Xi’s remarks had followed the release of the documentary Under The Dome , which had drawn over a million hits on the internet on account of its unvarnished focus on the enormity of the crisis.
But late on Friday, the film, produced by Chai Jing, a former employee of CCTV, the state-run broadcaster, began to disappear from mainstream domestic video-sharing sites.
By Saturday afternoon, it was no longer available on popular mainland video sites, including Youku and iQiyi.
The move was surprising as the film had been praised earlier this week by China’s newly-appointed Environmental Protection Minister, Chen Jining. People’s Daily , the official newspaper of the Chinese government had also posted the documentary on its website.
China’s decision to lower its growth rate target for 2015 to seven per cent; the framing of the new environment law; and plans to enhance the role of nuclear and renewables in its energy mix, is expected to sharply reduce emissions in the world’s second largest economy.
A major element of China’s clean energy strategy is the reduction in the use of coal — a double-edged weapon that has been both at the heart of the country’s breakneck growth story and the cause for heavy smog choking many Chinese cities. “For areas affected by severe smog, regions where conserving energy is difficult, and industries with overcapacity, we will strictly control the number of energy-intensive projects and implement policies for reducing coal use, and for replacing coal with alternative energy sources,” the report said.
Planners say that the country’s energy use has entered “medium-low growth,” in tune with the more sustainable model of development that China plans to follow.
Nur Bekri, the head of National Energy Administration, predicts a steep decline in the expansion of China’s primary energy consumption. While annual energy intake increased by 7.9 per cent since 2000, it is expected to grow by only 3.4 per cent over the next six years. That figure conforms with China’s target of capping annual primary energy consumption at 4.8 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent by 2020.
Mr. Bekri said that energy growth will further dip to 2.3 per cent during 2015-2030.
China hopes to reduce the use of coal — which fuels 66 per cent of the current energy consumption — by expanding the share of non-fossil energy to 15 per cent by 2020, and 20 per cent by 2030.
