Chinese report spells out climate change threat

The Chinese government concluded that global warming from rising carbon emissions poses a long-term threat to the country’s prosperity, health and food output in a 710-page report recently released to the public, Reuters reported. “China faces extremely grim ecological and environmental conditions under the impact of continued global warming and changes to China’s regional environment,” said the 710-page “Second National Assessment Report on Climate Change.” The report predicted that China’s emissions of carbon dioxide are only likely to fall off after 2030, with big decreases only after 2050. Assuming no measures to counteract global warming, China’s grain output could fall by between 5% to 20% by 2050 as environmental changes shrink rivers and unleash more droughts and floods. The government maintains a goal of cutting the amount of carbon used per unit of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 compared to 2005 levels. The report, which was authored by teams of scientists and supervised by the government, concluded that China’s emissions reduction efforts through 2020 will cost RMB10 trillion (US$1.6 trillion), including RMB5 trillion for energy-saving technology and new and renewable energy.