China’s 13th Five-Year Plan for energy (Energy 13FYP) might be one of the most anticipated official documents in the world and is one that will have far-reaching impacts on the carbon trajectory of the world’s number one emitter.
Recently, information about the plan begins to surface in the Chinese media.China’s 13th Five-Year Plan for energy (Energy 13FYP) might be one of the most anticipated official documents in the world and is one that will have far-reaching impacts on the carbon trajectory of the world’s number one emitter.
Recently, information about the plan begins to surface in the Chinese media.
On July 11, the Economic Information Daily, a major financial newspaper, reported that publication of the central government policy intently watched by the climate and energy community is “imminent”. More specifically, the report spells out key targets that are being considered by the country’s energy policymakers.
This blog intends to summarise the information about those targets based on publicly-available information. Before that, a bit of background.
What’s up with all the FYPs?
The first question anyone new to China’s planning cycles may ask is: What’s the nature or status of this Energy 13FYP? Our readers may remember that in March, China unveiled its 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development (2016-2020), which contains a set of climate and energy related targets, including an energy consumption cap and a 15 per cent goal for the share of non fossil-based energy in the country’s primary energy mix.
If we consider this the “Master Plan” for all aspects of China’s development in the next five year period, the Energy 13FYP is a specification of that Master Plan for the energy sector, with more detailed targets that will better guide policy making, government spending and project planning in the sector.
The chart below illustrates the hierarchy of Chinese plan making, which locates the Energy 13FYP as a “Special Plan” for a specific sector. Special planning follows the completion of national general plans, and its process is less predictable. It is noteworthy that for the 12th Five Year Plan cycle (2011-2015), the Energy plan took almost two years to make and was only released in 2013. Therefore, even if media declare the Energy 13FYP “imminent”, there is no guarantee when exactly it will be published.
Source Name: Eco-Business
Source URL: http://www.eco-business.com/news/all-eyes-on-chinas-13th-five-year-plan-for-energy/
