Monday, November 9, 2015

China to Announce Cap-and-Trade Program to Limit Emissions

            President Xi Jinping of China will be making history by starting a national program in 2017 that will limit and put a price on greenhouse gas emissions in China. The program President Jinping is planning to implement is a called a cap-and-trade system. Cap-and-trade is a regulatory system that is meant to reduce certain kinds of emissions and pollution and to provide companies with a profit incentive to reduce their pollution levels faster than their peers. Under a cap-and-trade program, a limit on certain types of emissions or pollutions is set, and companies are permitted to sell the unused portion of their limits to other companies that are struggling to comply. This will greatly reduce the negative externalities that come with the high pollution emissions in China that has caused countless social issues across the country.

            Tension between the two nations is still heated caused by countless cyber-attacks over the past several weeks waged by China. But this program will bring about change and is the first step for China and America collaboration to achieve one ultimate goal of reducing pollution emissions in the two largest economies in the world. On the hand, the Chinese economy will be taking a bit hit when this program is implemented. China always strived on having high production output but with regulations in place, the expenses for various industries will increase and they will have no choice to reduce output. This might lead to a decrease in foreign investment and they will relocate to an area where there are fewer regulations.    

1 comment:

Unknown said...

As said in the news, President Obama tried to push a similar cap-and-trade program through Congress. But the measure died in the Senate, in part because lawmakers from both parties feared that a serious climate change policy could threaten economic competition with China. I guess it is easier to make it happen since China is controlled by one party.