Climate change challenges and China's response: mitigation and governance

China clearly matters when it comes to global efforts to mitigate climate change and any successful international efforts to stabilize greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions must inevitably include the country. In terms of climate change responses, it is argued that governments are important actors that play a key role in defining appropriate rules, institutions and modes of governance to meet these changes at different levels and scales and in enforcing the defined rules and regulations. This article presents a detailed case study aimed at the analysis of how Chinese policies and governance structures related to climate change have evolved over the past 20 years, particularly from 1992 to 2015, and how they have influenced Chinese GHG emissions during this period.