Theoretical Mechanism International Carbon Tariffs And Low-carbon Economy Development In China

The use of fossil fuels plays a crucial role in promoting global economicdevelopment and human social progress, but unlimited carbon dioxide emissionsproduced by burning fossil fuels also lead to the warming-up of global climate. Somewestern countries, which are greatly influenced by climate change, has begun toactively develop low-carbon economy interiorly, and to push more countries to acceptthe constraint of mandatory carbon emission reduction through international climatenegotiations exteriorly. However, to make these negotiations go ahead is very difficult,because the leading countries in carbon emission reduction have concerns aboutcompetitiveness loss and carbon leakage. As the trade measure which tries to forcedis-operative countries to accept emission reduction in the international climatenegotiations, carbon tariff advances the course, but it also makes climate changeissues begin to interweave with the international trade ones. The change of theAmerican attitude to the carbon tariff dramatically from opposition at the beginning toadoption in the bills concerned with environment and energy marks Americanreconsideration of the strategic value on carbon tariffs. Carbon tariff can not onlyinclude the large developing countries in the ranks of mandatory carbon emissionreduction so as to curb their development, but also change the traditional tradingcomparative advantages to help western countries form new low-carboncompetitiveness in the international economic and trade fields. More and morewestern countries feel the power of the international carbon game generating fromcarbon tariff, positively cultivate low-carbon competitiveness, and try to control theglobal field of low-carbon economy to obtain their biggest economic and politicalinterests.Although China should strongly condemn the climate change caused byhigh-carbonization behavior of developed countries since their industrialization anddiplomacy protectionism of the carbon tariff, it does not mean China can alwaysresort to irrationality or illegality of the carbon tariff to neglect the internationalcarbon emissions reduction and domestic development of low-carbon economy. With economy development and rapid promotion of industrialization and urbanization,China’s carbon-dioxide emissions are quickly increasing. Based on the considerationof international pressure to reduce emissions and admitting degree of domesticenvironment and resources, China’s low-carbon economy has come to be imperativeto develop and cannot be separated from the international environment in theglobalizing time of climate change issue. Therefore, to pay more attention to thecarbon tariff and to fight effectively against it can make China’s low-carbon economictransformation have more time and space. Meanwhile, to do better and better in thelimited time is the inevitable choice of China’s low-carbon economy for getting thefuture competitiveness.Making China’s low-carbon economy development as the research object andcarbon tariff as the breakthrough point, this thesis uses historical study method totrace back to the history of carbon tariff; combines inductive and deductive methodsto analyze the logical relationship between carbon tariff and other carbon conceptsand to obtain the two kinds of theoretical mechanism-carbon game mechanism andforced carbon emission reduction mechanism from theoretical framework of thecarbon tariff; adopts comparative analysis method to probe into the different low-carbon economy development modes in western countries and China’s low-carboneconomy development practice; utilizes the qualitative and quantitative model toobtain the optimal mode of China’s future low-carbon economy development; puts thenormative analysis method into use to construct the countermeasure system for thesynergetic development of China’s low-carbon economy. By all these researchmethods, the thesis wants to provide a more comprehensive and systematicconstruction thinking to China’s low-carbon economy development in the perspectiveof carbon tariff.This thesis consists of eight chapters:Chapter One is Introduction. This chapter raises an inevitable connectionbetween international carbon tariff and China’s low-carbon economy development,and then carries on literature reviews on carbon tariff and low-carbon economyrespectively. On this basis, this chapter puts forward the research purpose,significance, train of thought, methods, innovations and deficiencies of this thesis.Chapter Two is Background, Emergence and Progress of Carbon Tariff. Thischapter introduces the related situations of climate change, international climate negotiations and emergence of the carbon tariff, and analyzes the up-to-date state ofthe carbon tariff so as to give the clear train of thought to the in-depth study ofChapter Three and Four.Chapter Three is Logical Relationship among Carbon-related Concepts. On thebasis of comprehensive analysis on concept, meaning, collection methods and tradewelfare effect of the carbon tariff, this chapter distinguishes other carbon-relatedconcepts in terms of emission, finance and consumption and illustrates the logicalrelationship between carbon tariff and other carbon-related concepts.Chapter Four is Theoretical Mechanism of Carbon Tariff. This chapter constructslegality of carbon tariff in the international law on the basis of its economic theory. Inthis framework, this chapter forms two kinds of theoretical mechanism of carbontariff-carbon game mechanism which is going on and forced carbon emissionreduction mechanism which has showed its power.Chapter Five is Practice of Low-carbon Economy Development in WesternCountries under Carbon Game Mechanism. This chapter clarifies dialecticalrelationship between carbon tariff and western low-carbon economy developmentmode under the carbon game mechanism, and then selects British, American andJapanese modes to deeply analyze because these western countries developlow-carbon economy at the forefront and each has distinctive characteristics.Chapter Six is Practice of Low-carbon Economy Development in China underForced Carbon Emission Reduction Mechanism. Using time of pressure before andafter emergence of carbon tariff as links, this chapter elaborates China’s ideationalchange on low-carbon economy development, the implemented policy system whichfocuses on administrative-command energy saving and emission reduction, and thewestern market measures China is now adopting to promote low-carbon economydevelopment in different degrees. And then, this chapter evaluates the results ofChina’s emission reduction.Chapter Seven is Decision-making Analysis on China’s Low-carbon EconomyDevelopment. By utilizing Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), this chapter constructsa decision-making model of China’s low-carbon economy development to giveintegrating qualitative and quantitative analysis to government-control measures(administrative-command energy saving and emission reduction) and marketregulation measures(carbon tax and carbon trading). Chapter Eight is Countermeasure System to Construct China’s Low-carbonEconomy Development. This chapter takes the empirical decision result that carbontax should dominate China’s low-carbon economy development obtained in chapterseven, the viewpoint that carbon tariff cannot be ignored elaborated in chapter two tofive, and the motivation problem of microcosmic enterprise in the emission reductionrevealed in chapter six as construction principles of the countermeasure system.Under the guidance of these principles, this chapter puts forward a systematic anddynamic countermeasure system of China’s low-carbon economy development interms of preparation, implementation of carbon tax, coordinated development ofcarbon trading, transition of government low-carbon controls and diplomatic responseto carbon tariff respectively to help China effectively promote the development oflow-carbon economy in the complicated situations at home and abroad.