Developing a low-carbon economy is a major focus of many CPPCC members. Some have made their proposals offering different ideas leading to a low-carbon development path.
CPPCC Member Dong Hengyu comes from the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The region is currently China's biggest production base of coal, hence a major emitter of carbon dioxide. Dong made a proposal to optimize the abundant natural carbon sink resources, such as grasslands, lakes and wetlands in the western region. He says this is crucial for saving energy and reaching environmentally friendly targets.
Dong Hengyu, CPPCC member, said, "On the one hand, we need to provide our country with plenty of energy resources like coal. On the other hand, we must protect our grasslands and wetlands and plant more trees. The increment of these natural carbon sink resources will offset the carbon dioxide emitted by coal mines and coal-fire plants. In this way we can achieve carbon neutrality.
Another CPPCC member Zhou Jianmin's proposal is to use taxes to push forward the development of a low carbon economy.
Zhou Jianmin, CPPCC member, said, "The business sector is crucial for realizing a low-carbon economy. The imposition of carbon taxes will propel enterprises to proactively think about their carbon emission status and improve and upgrade their low-carbon technologies."
Zhou Jianmin says low-carbon technologies are the core for developing a low-carbon economy. He suggests carbon taxes first be imposed to major carbon emitters, such as steel makers and coal-fired plants.
Besides optimizing carbon sink resources and formulating carbon tax policies, some CPPCC members have put forward proposals to establish a home-grown system of low-carbon technologies, and to map out a national plan to push forward a low-carbon economy. They say the goal of this is not only to tackle climate change, but it will also drive the transformation of China's economic development while realizing sustainable growth.