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Old wine in new skins? Experiences from adopting voluntary agreements in Chinese state-owned enterprises
Panel: Panel 5. Energy efficiency in industry
Authors:
Daniel Bongardt, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy
Energy, Transport and Climate Policy Research Group, Germany
Urda Eichhorst, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy
Energy, Transport and Climate Policy Research Group, Germany
Abstract
The Chinese national government has put energy efficiency and pollution control at the heart of its 11 th five-year plan (2005-2010). However, implementation of national policies at the local level is notoriously poor in China. In order to tackle this problem, voluntary agreements were signed between local Environmental Protection Bureaus and 14 mostly state-owned companies from different energy-intensive sectors in Nanjing, Xi'an and Kelamayi in the context of an ongoing EU-funded pilot project. In Nanjing, for instance, agreed targets are in the range of a 3-5% reduction in energy intensity by 2009 over a 2007 baseline. The pilot agreements are informed by Dutch experiences with long-term agreements on energy efficiency (LTA / 1989-1999) as European best practice, but have been significantly adjusted to Chinese circumstances. Much emphasis was put on process management applying a cooperative approach throughout. Each enterprise put together a so-called Energy Action Team for voluntary agreement development and implementation. This helped to create a sense of ownership in the companies and assigned clear responsibilities. Energy Action Teams conducted Energy Potential Scans in cooperation with a Dutch expert to identify energy saving potentials and possible measures to realize them. On this basis, achievable targets were agreed and a detailed action plan was developed. A first evaluation is scheduled for April 2009. By lifting industry on a more equal power level with government authorities, voluntary agreements showed to be an effective policy instrument to overcome traditional institutional constraints to environmental policy implementation at the local level in China.
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Panels of
Panel 2. Policy implementation: learning from the past, improving the future
Panel 1. The foundations of future energy policies: Initiating change and breaking walls
Panel 3. Monitoring & evaluation: understanding change and how to deliver energy efficiency
Panel 4. Residential and commercial sectors: delivering lower energy use in buildings
Panel 5. Energy efficiency in industry
Panel 6. Energy efficiency in transport and mobility