Has China’s consideration of a carbon tax been influenced by international climate negotiations?
JK: I think that’s not at all important. China shouldn’t pay too much attention to the international talks as it responds to climate change. By 2030, China is going to be the leader of the world, whether it wants to be or not. By that point, China is sure to be ahead in technology as well as other areas. We need to make China a competitive nation and a carbon tax – or taxes that are targeted at adjusting the economic structure – are an effective route to doing that. We should implement them as soon as possible. China has long talked of making changes to its economic structure, but to date things are actually getting worse. Why? The government has long been doing its best, but is finding that its methods are becoming less effective. The 11th Five Year Plan’s emission-reduction targets relied almost exclusively on administrative measures. We really hope to see changes in the 12th Five Year Plan. The government is not an expert on energy saving, yet it is setting all these policies on how
