Last month, the 12th economic five-year plan of the Chinese Popular Republic was approved; the last in a series that began with the first plan approved by Mao Tse Tung in 1953. What is surprising with this is that a new green economy seems to be next target of the communist establishment. While Western countries continue not to take strong action against climate change, Beijing seems disposed to a real shift from carbon to renewable energies. China does not accept internationally binding treaties, like the current Kyoto Protocol related to greenhouse gas reduction, but at the same time approves a national plan including massive investments on renewable sources, like Aeolian and solar plants. This new Chinese green policy could be both an environmental and an economic strategy, not only a way to defend and improve a common goal – air quality – but a way to assume a leading role in a market expected to grow. That is obvious if we consider that nuclear energy use is expected to decrease, especially after the recent crises of the Fukushima Japanese nuclear plant, following decision by German government's move to gradually dismantle nuclear plants and the national referendum in Italy, which halted the government's efforts for a new nuclear policy. China wants not only to improve its cities' air, but also to excel in the global market of renewable energies. And that goal is not hard to achieve, if we consider that of the currently over 10 world's leading companies dealing with solar energy, 7 are Chinese. From the environmental point of view, Beijing's new policy is positive, especially if we take into account the inefficient solutions promoted by the United Nations until now. The Kyoto Protocol of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in fact, has not efficiently dealt with greenhouse gases effects on global temperature. That was due not only to the US decision not to join the treaty, but also to other western countries that, despite having ratified the Protocol, have not respected the goals. Both the Copenhagen and Cancun talks over climate change, moreover, failed to extend the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012, when is due to expire. Due to the world economic recession, in 2009 there was a CO2 emission reduction, but in 2010 there was a strong increase estimated at 30.6 billion tons of gases. That is five percent more that 2008, which set a record at that time. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that this year emissions could reach new record levels of 32 billions tons. According to the scientific community, effects of CO2 growing emissions will be catastrophic, especially for hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people. In such a situation, where the UN system seems unable to promote a new decisive international deal to tackle greenhouse gases effects, China's new green policy seems like a sunray within a fog-bank. BM
