How will the 12th Five-Year Plan address environmental issues?

The winter of 2009 witnessed China's boldest environmental declarations thus far. China's State Council stated that carbon intensity will be reduced by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels. To this end, the current plan is to have alternative energy meet 15 percent of the country's energy needs by 2020, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The most updated figures suggest that alternative energy is at the half-way point towards reaching those goals.  

Officials are currently discussing how to align these goals with the 12th Five-Year Plan (2010-2015).  On a national level, the NDRC recently launched 15 national energy research centers. According to Professor He Jiankun of Tsinghua University, the central government spent 1.5 trillion yuan on the 11th 5-Year Plan, and it will need to increase spending by 45 percent to achieve the current carbon intensity goals. Exact allocations of spending for green energy projects are still being discussed.

Regionally, three geographical centers stand out as green energy hubs: Wuxi, in southwestern China's Jiangsu province, is believed by experts to have the strongest R&D capabilities; Baoding City in Hebei, is regarded as the center of clean energy manufacturing; Inner Mongolia is viewed to have natural attributes for projects such as wind-power. Local-level officials have expressed an intention to pursue pilot carbon trading programs but have cited issues with a lack of expertise and planning.