Greening China’s Cities and
the Country’s Next Coal Cap
An environmental policy presentation.
Vivian Yao
PEI Summer of Learning Symposium
October 3, 2014
Summer Background
 Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)’s Asia
headquarters in Beijing, China
 Prosper Center—Beijing’s first low carbon emission and
sustainable building design.
 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) Gold
Award.
 The China Coal Consumption Plan and Policy Research
Project, a project of the Climate Change and Energy Policy
Team.
 Mission: Implement a coal consumption cap strategy and
roadmap for achieving negative growth in Chinese total
coal consumption and CO2 by 2020.
China’s Coal Usage Landscape
Where is the coal going?
“Airpocalypse”
Broad spectrum of problems
Locating the equilibrium: human health vs.
economic health
Beijing skyline on a severely polluted evening (left) and on a clear evening (right)
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
The China Coal Consumption Plan
and Policy Research Project
 Reach coal consumption peak by 2020.
 China can develop the policies and
technologies needed to cut its coal
consumption in the next decade.
 Pilot carbon emissions trading program,
capping total energy consumption, taxing
coal, incentivize energy efficiency and
renewable energy
 Implement in China’s 13th Five Year Plan
(2016-2020)
Effective Strategies for China Coal Cap
July 30, 2014—China Coal Consumption Cap Plan and Policy Research Project held its
second High-level Policy Steering Committee Meting at Beijing Tangla Hotel.
September 22, 2014—NRDC Coal Cap Team releases research findings of its two
research papers on “International Experience in Coal Consumption Reduction and
Clean Coal Development” and “New Outlook on Energy Security and Asian Energy
Governance Institutions.”
NRDC and the US don’t think so.
NRDC at the US-China S&ED.
 US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue （中美战略与经济对话）
 Established by President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao in
2009
 NRDC representatives present…along with Secretary of State John Kerry
and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew
Summer 2014: Studying
Pollution in the World’s
Most Polluted City
Peking University
Beijing 798 Art District
Tsinghua University
SPECIAL THANKS & 谢谢
PRINCETON ENVIRONMENTAL
INSTITUTE
PRINCETON IN ASIA
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE
COUNCIL