The Chinese green long march

The fight against climate change is one of the most important challenges for the future of our planet . China carries out a massive effort to build an economic model that can ensure a sustainable development model and non-polluting .

For China, this is a decisive game and there are many academic initiatives to form the future leaders who will be working for a sustainable development model.

This past August was held the International Summer School organized by Tsinghua University in Beijing . Among the speakers Corrado Clini, the Italian former Minister for the Environment with a lesson on Air Pollution and Climate Change. Here below we publish parts of the lesson:

By 2030, 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities, up from about 50 percent today. It is expected that more than two billion people, mostly living in cities in emerging economies, particularly China and India, are likely to improve their economic situation. This will drive the increasing demand

for energy supply of heating, cooling, lighting, electric devices; of cars, mainly in the emerging economies: today’s 1.2 billion global car fleet could double by 2030. 70% of global primary energy consumption and 80% of Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will be derived from cities, 30% of it from transportation and about 40% from buildings and housing. CO2 is the most important antropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG). The increasing concentration in the atmosphere is driving the Global Warning.

According to World Health Organization, air pollution in the urban areas, the other «side» of ghg emissions, is responsible in 2014 of seven million premature deaths.

To reduce the risks of air pollution to health and to protect the climate system, cross-sectoral and long term policies are needed both to meet the increasing energy and to address the reduction of the multiple sources of emissions : energy, transportation, housing, management of urban areas.


Finally, the future of the Earth’s energy structure depends greatly from China and India. Furthermore, without the concomitant adoption of the carbon tax and measures to support oil-dependent economies, unexpected and dangerous geopolitical outcomes can be expected in the world’s hottest areas.