SW CHINA CITY AIMS TO REACH NATIONAL COPENHAGEN EMISSIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000043 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/CM E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ENRG ENIV SENV CH SUBJECT: SW CHINA CITY AIMS TO REACH NATIONAL COPENHAGEN EMISSIONS CUTS IN 2012 CHENGDU 00000043 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) This cable contains sensitive but unclassified information - not for distribution on the Internet. ¶2. (SBU) Summary: Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu, is advancing a pilot project in one of the city's northern districts that seeks by 2012 to reduce carbon dioxide emission intensity by 40 percent from 2005 levels. This reduction is roughly equal to the national target that China put forward at the Copenhagen Conference in December 2009. Sichuan officials have established a Low Carbon Economy Research Center at the Province's most prestigious university. Sichuan also recently upgraded the bureaucratic rank of the provincial Environmental Protection Bureau, and established an energy department, although it is too early to tell what impact these changes will have on environmental efforts. End Summary. Ambitious Plan to Convert District Into Energy-Efficiency Pioneer -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Officials at Sichuan's Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and the newly-established Low Carbon Economy Research Center (LCERC) at Sichuan University told Congenoffs and visiting Emboff that Qingbaijiang District has been designated as a "low carbon economy" pilot project. Located 30 minutes northeast of Chengdu's city center, the district is home to a number of chemical factories. Zhao Lechen, Director of the Science, Technology, and Standards Department of International Cooperation of the EPD, said that the pilot project would last 1-2 years. Researchers at LCERC suggested that the Qingbaijiang pilot would likely be followed by other low carbon projects in other cities and counties. ¶4. (U) The pilot project aims to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions 40 percent from 2005 levels in Qingbaijiang by 2012, according to a local press report. (Note: Chinese officials at the Copenhagen Conference in December said that China would reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions by 40-45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. End Note.) The same report said that the district would see a 50 percent reduction in carbon dioxide intensity by 2015, and a 60 percent cut by ¶2020. Niu Wenyuan, the Director of the Chinese Academy of Science's Sustainable Development Strategy Group, sent a letter to Chengdu city officials in mid-2009 encouraging them to make Qingbaijiang a "low carbon development district." Based on this recommendation, Chengdu officials drafted a plan that called for industries to carry out 53 low-carbon development projects, and put forward specific requirements for agricultural, construction, transportation, and service industries. Sichuan Academics Pull Together and Work with Government -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Sichuan University's LCERC integrates the work of more than 100 academics, some of whom have been working on environmentally-related projects for over 10 years, LCERC Deputy Director Xu Jiuping told us. Xu said that professors and scholars associated with the institute had achieved notable success in the form of national awards and patents, although he did not provide specific examples. He said that researchers had also conducted joint research with British and U.S. universities in 2003 and 2005, respectively. The LCERC will prioritize research on green energy, carbon capture and sequestration technology, energy-efficient construction, and "low-carbon economic policies." Xu noted that the LCERC would also play a role in low-carbon pilot projects like Qingbaijiang. Unlike the more narrowly targeted low-carbon research centers at Beijing's prestigious Qinghua University or Shanghai's Fudan University, the LCERC is distinct because its comprehensive research focuses on all aspects of a low-carbon economy, according to Xu. CHENGDU 00000043 002.2 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) Zhao said that the EPD works with the LCERC, and the EPD's own Science and Technology Research Center (STRC) has the most direct cooperation with the LCERC. He also said that the STRC has responsibility for supervision of methane and carbon emissions, and is working on the Qingbaijiang low-carbon pilot project. Zhao did not, however, provide specific details of what role Sichuan's EPD would have in the pilot. (Comment: Zhao's position appears to be part of the EPD's internal foreign affairs office, whose officials are tasked with interacting with Consulate officials. He did not appear to have familiarity with the details of specific projects. End Comment.) Sichuan Shuffling Responsibilities, Possibly Providing Greater Focus on Key Environmental Issues -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The Sichuan provincial government announced in late December last year that organs within the provincial government would be restructured to provide better coordination, increase administrative efficiency, and reduce overlapping areas of responsibility. As part of the reorganization, Sichuan upgraded the Environmental Protection Bureau (Huanbaoju) to the more powerful rank of Environmental Protection Department (Huanbaoting). The province also created a dedicated Energy Bureau (Nengyuanju) to handle energy issues. When Congenoff requested to meet with the Energy Bureau, however, an official said that roles and responsibilities within the bureau had not yet been finalized. ¶8. (SBU) Zhao said that the EPD's newly elevated status showed that both the Sichuan government and the central government in Beijing were paying greater attention environmental protection from a bureaucratic and administrative perspective. The EPD, according to Zhao, would now play a more important role in macro-economic management, although he did not provide examples of how this would happen. He also noted the link between energy consumption and pollution, and said that the EPD's mission was to deal with this challenge. On climate change, Zhao said the EPD would also work with the Sichuan Development and Reform Commission. BROWN