Governing Sustainable Energies in China (Politics and Development of Contemporary China)

This book examines sustainable energy development in China, a non-liberal state, as a counterexample to conventional wisdom that effective policy outcomes are premised on the basis of decentralized governance. The use of sustainable energies as part of the solution for stabilising global warming has been promoted in industrialised countries for the past three decades. In the last ten years, China has expanded its renewable energy capacity with unprecedented speed and breadth. This phenomenon seems to contradict the principle of orthodox environmental governance, in which stakeholder participation is deemed a necessary condition for effective policy outcomes. Based upon policy documents, news report and interviews with 32 policy makers, business leaders, and NGO practitioners in selected subnational governments, this book examines the politics of sustainable energy in China. It engages debates over the relationships among democratic prioritisation, environmental protection, and economic empowerment, arguing that Chinaℓ́ℓs quasi-corporatist model in the sustainable energy field challenges Western scholarsℓ́ℓ dominant assumptions about ecopolitics This book examines sustainable energy development in China, a non-liberal state, as a counterexample to conventional wisdom that effective policy outcomes are premised on the basis of decentralized governance. The use of sustainable energies as part of the solution for stabilising global warming has been promoted in industrialised countries for the past three decades. In the last ten years, China has expanded its renewable energy capacity with unprecedented speed and breadth. This phenomenon seems to contradict the principle of orthodox environmental governance, in which stakeholder participation is deemed a necessary condition for effective policy outcomes. Based upon policy documents, news report and interviews with 32 policy makers, business leaders, and NGO practitioners in selected subnational governments, this book examines the politics of sustainable energy in China. It engages debates over the relationships among democratic prioritisation, environmental protection, and economic empowerment, arguing that Chinaĺls quasi-corporatist model in the sustainable energy field challenges Western scholarsĺl dominant assumptions about ecopolitics Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 How States Build Sustainable Energy Capacity....Pages 3-30 Orthodoxies of Energy Governance....Pages 31-63 Theoretical Approaches to the System of Governance of Renewable Energy in China....Pages 65-111 Front Matter....Pages 113-113 The Chinese State, the Perceived Environmental Crisis, and the Mixed Paradigm for Diffusing Non-Hydro Renewable Energy....Pages 115-165 Jiangsu: Regional Renewable Planning and Deployment....Pages 167-196 Zhejiang: Regional Renewable Planning and Deployment....Pages 197-218 Towards a New Model of Sustainable Energy Development?....Pages 219-255 Back Matter....Pages 257-296