VZCZCXRO0493
RR RUEHAST RUEHDH RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHSL
RUEHTRO
DE RUEHCN #0043/01 0540325
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230325Z FEB 10
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3761
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 4487

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000043 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ENRG ENIV SENV CH
SUBJECT: SW CHINA CITY AIMS TO REACH NATIONAL COPENHAGEN EMISSIONS 
CUTS IN 2012 
 
CHENGDU 00000043  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) This cable contains sensitive but unclassified 
information - not for distribution on the Internet. 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary: Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu, is 
advancing a pilot project in one of the city's northern 
districts that seeks by 2012 to reduce carbon dioxide emission 
intensity by 40 percent from 2005 levels.  This reduction is 
roughly equal to the national target that China put forward at 
the Copenhagen Conference in December 2009.  Sichuan officials 
have established a Low Carbon Economy Research Center at the 
Province's most prestigious university.  Sichuan also recently 
upgraded the bureaucratic rank of the provincial Environmental 
Protection Bureau, and established an energy department, 
although it is too early to tell what impact these changes will 
have on environmental efforts.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
Ambitious Plan to Convert District 
 
Into Energy-Efficiency Pioneer 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Officials at Sichuan's Environmental Protection 
Department (EPD) and the newly-established Low Carbon Economy 
Research Center (LCERC) at Sichuan University told Congenoffs 
and visiting Emboff that Qingbaijiang District has been 
designated as a "low carbon economy" pilot project.  Located 30 
minutes northeast of Chengdu's city center, the district is home 
to a number of chemical factories.  Zhao Lechen, Director of the 
Science, Technology, and Standards Department of International 
Cooperation of the EPD, said that the pilot project would last 
1-2 years.  Researchers at LCERC suggested that the Qingbaijiang 
pilot would likely be followed by other low carbon projects in 
other cities and counties. 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) The pilot project aims to reduce the intensity of carbon 
dioxide emissions 40 percent from 2005 levels in Qingbaijiang by 
2012, according to a local press report.  (Note:  Chinese 
officials at the Copenhagen Conference in December said that 
China would reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions by 
40-45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.  End Note.)  The same 
report said that the district would see a 50 percent reduction 
in carbon dioxide intensity by 2015, and a 60 percent cut by 
¶2020.  Niu Wenyuan, the Director of the Chinese Academy of 
Science's Sustainable Development Strategy Group, sent a letter 
to Chengdu city officials in mid-2009 encouraging them to make 
Qingbaijiang a "low carbon development district."  Based on this 
recommendation, Chengdu officials drafted a plan that called for 
industries to carry out 53 low-carbon development projects, and 
put forward specific requirements for agricultural, 
construction, transportation, and service industries. 
 
 
 
Sichuan Academics Pull Together and Work with Government 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Sichuan University's LCERC integrates the work of more 
than 100 academics, some of whom have been working on 
environmentally-related projects for over 10 years, LCERC Deputy 
Director Xu Jiuping told us.  Xu said that professors and 
scholars associated with the institute had achieved notable 
success in the form of national awards and patents, although he 
did not provide specific examples.  He said that researchers had 
also conducted joint research with British and U.S. universities 
in 2003 and 2005, respectively.  The LCERC will prioritize 
research on green energy, carbon capture and sequestration 
technology, energy-efficient construction, and "low-carbon 
economic policies."  Xu noted that the LCERC would also play a 
role in low-carbon pilot projects like Qingbaijiang.  Unlike the 
more narrowly targeted low-carbon research centers at Beijing's 
prestigious Qinghua University or Shanghai's Fudan University, 
the LCERC is distinct because its comprehensive research focuses 
on all aspects of a low-carbon economy, according to Xu. 
 
 
CHENGDU 00000043  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Zhao said that the EPD works with the LCERC, and the 
EPD's own Science and Technology Research Center (STRC) has the 
most direct cooperation with the LCERC.  He also said that the 
STRC has responsibility for supervision of methane and carbon 
emissions, and is working on the Qingbaijiang low-carbon pilot 
project.  Zhao did not, however, provide specific details of 
what role Sichuan's EPD would have in the pilot.  (Comment: 
Zhao's position appears to be part of the EPD's internal foreign 
affairs office, whose officials are tasked with interacting with 
Consulate officials.  He did not appear to have familiarity with 
the details of specific projects.  End Comment.) 
 
 
 
Sichuan Shuffling Responsibilities, 
 
Possibly Providing Greater Focus on Key Environmental Issues 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Sichuan provincial government announced in late 
December last year that organs within the provincial government 
would be restructured to provide better coordination, increase 
administrative efficiency, and reduce overlapping areas of 
responsibility.  As part of the reorganization, Sichuan upgraded 
the Environmental Protection Bureau (Huanbaoju) to the more 
powerful rank of Environmental Protection Department 
(Huanbaoting).  The province also created a dedicated Energy 
Bureau (Nengyuanju) to handle energy issues.  When Congenoff 
requested to meet with the Energy Bureau, however, an official 
said that roles and responsibilities within the bureau had not 
yet been finalized. 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Zhao said that the EPD's newly elevated status showed 
that both the Sichuan government and the central government in 
Beijing were paying greater attention environmental protection 
from a bureaucratic and administrative perspective.  The EPD, 
according to Zhao, would now play a more important role in 
macro-economic management, although he did not provide examples 
of how this would happen.  He also noted the link between energy 
consumption and pollution, and said that the EPD's mission was 
to deal with this challenge.  On climate change, Zhao said the 
EPD would also work with the Sichuan Development and Reform 
Commission. 
BROWN