Grappling with Climate Challenge in the Built Environment in China

Large-scale urban infrastructure such as the built environment in China would raise serious concerns about the long-term energy use and carbon lock-in in the case that energy performance were not taken into account properly at the new construction stage. Improvement in BEE (building's energy efficiency) can contribute to reducing energy-related CO2 emissions, and consequently, climate change mitigation, in a cost-effective manner. Intense efforts are necessary to scale up investment in BEE research and development to lower the costs of new/emerging technologies gradually through learning-by-doing process. Public policies are required to catalyze the market transition and exploit the economies of scale. The sectoral no-lose target (SNLT) approach, which is considered a key component of the post-2012 climate change mitigation framework, could be adopted to integrate GHG emission reduction policies in the highest-emitting sectors.