3.3 Objectives

The strategic goal of China to respond to climate change is to make significant achievements in controlling greenhouse gas emissions, enhance the capability of continuous adaptation to climate change, promote climate change related science, technology and R&D to a new level, remarkably raise public awareness on climate change, and further strengthen the institutions and mechanisms on climate change. According to this strategic goal, China will make great efforts to achieve the following specific objectives by 2010.

3.3.1 To control greenhouse gas emissions

- Accelerating the transformation of economic growth pattern; strengthening the policy guidance on energy conservation and efficient utilization; reinforcing governmental supervision and administration on energy conservation; expediting R&D, demonstration and deployment of energy conservation technologies; bringing new market-based mechanisms for energy conservation into full play; raising public and social awareness on energy conservation; and speeding up the building-up of a resource-conserving society. By all these means, China will achieve the target of about 20-percent reduction of energy consumption per unit GDP by 2010, and consequently reduce CO2 emissions.

- Optimizing energy consumption structure. Measures in this regard include: vigorously developing renewable energy; actively promoting nuclear power plant construction; and speeding up utilization of coal bed methane. The target is to raise the proportion of renewable energy (including large-scale hydropower) in primary energy supply up to 10 percent by 2010, and the extraction of coal bed methane up to 10 billion cubic meters.

- Reinforcing industrial policy governing metallurgy, building materials and chemical industry; developing a circular economy; raising resource utilization efficiency; and strengthening emission control of nitrous oxide. By 2010, the emissions of nitrous oxide from industrial processes will remain stable as that in 2005.

- Promoting the adoption of low-emission and high-yield rice varieties, the rice cultivation technique of semi-drought, and scientific irrigation technology; strengthening the R&D on outstanding ruminant animal breeds and large-scale breeding and management techniques; reinforcing the management on animal wastes, wastewater and solid wastes; and promoting biogas utilization to control the growth rate of methane emissions.

- Increasing the forest coverage rate to 20 percent and realizing the increase of carbon sink by 50 million tons over the level of 2005 by 2010. Measures in this regard include: continuously carrying out the policies and measures on afforestation, returning farmland to forest and grassland, natural forest protection, and basic construction for farmland and other key engineering construction.

3.3.2 To enhance capacity of adaptation to climate change

- Through strengthening farmland infrastructure, adjusting cropping systems, selecting and breeding stress-resistant varieties and developing bio-technologies and other adaptive countermeasures, the targets by 2010 are to increase the improved grassland by 24 million hectares, restore the grassland suffering from degradation, desertification, and salinity by 52 million hectares, and strive to increase the efficient utilization coefficient of agricultural irrigation water to 0.5.

- Through strengthening the natural forest conservation and nature reserve management and continuously implementing key ecological restoration programs, establish key ecological protection area and enhancing natural ecological restoration. By 2010, 90 percent of typical forest ecosystems and national key wildlife are effectively protected and nature reserve area accounts for 16 percent of the total territory; and 22 million hectares of desertified land is under control.

- By 2010, the vulnerability of water resources to climate change would be reduced by effective measures, such as rational exploitation and optimized allocation of water resources, building-up of new mechanism for infrastructure construction and popularization of water-saving concept. At that time, the anti-flood engineering systems in large rivers and the high standard for drought relief in farmland will be completed.

- By 2010, the construction and expansion of mangroves will be realized, the capability to resist marine disasters will be raised remarkably and the social influence and economic losses caused by sea level rise will be reduced in maximum through scientific monitoring of sea level change, regulating the ecosystem of marine and coastal zone areas, rationally exploiting the coastline, protecting coastal wetlands, constructing coastal shelterbelt system and continuously improving capabilities of protecting, restoring, planting and management of mangrove, etc.

3.3.3 To enhance R&D

- China will work hard to keep up with international advanced research on climate change in some fields by 2010, so as to provide effective and scientific basis for the development of national strategy and policy on climate change, and scientific guidance for participation in international cooperation on climate change. Measures in this regard include strengthening basic research on climate change, further developing and improving research and analytical methodology, intensifying the training and capacity building for professionals and decision-makers on climate change.

- In order to build up a strong scientific support to address climate change, China will work hard to build up its independent innovation capacity, promote international cooperation and technology transfer, achieve breakthrough in R&D on energy development, energy conservation and clean energy technology, and significantly enhance the adaptation capacity of agriculture and forestry by 2010.

3.3.4 To raise public awareness and improve management

- By means of modern information dissemination technologies, to strengthen communication, education and training to raise public awareness and participation in climate change. China will work hard to transfer the knowledge of climate change to all residential communities by 2010, to raise the whole society's awareness, and to create a friendly social environment to address climate change.

- By 2010, China will establish a suitable and high-efficient institutional and management framework to address climate change in the future by further improving the inter-ministerial decision-making and coordination mechanism on climate change and establishing an action mechanism for response to climate change involving a wide range of enterprise and public participation, etc.