The role of subnational governments in China's decarbonization program

Roy Bahl

Chapter 10 in Decentralized Governance and Climate Change, 2025, pp 217-228 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: China's decarbonization program targets carbon neutrality by 2060. The question raised in this chapter is how subnational governments and the intergovernmental system support this program. This analysis also identifies collateral costs of the decarbonization program, including regional fiscal disparities and disproportionate burdens on poor households. The conclusions reached here are that provincial and local governments play an important role in the success of this program through their implementation responsibilities and because their knowledge of the local area will greatly assist monitoring, program design, and advocacy. However, decarbonization also imposes collateral costs, including the displacement of workers in the energy-intensive sector, serious government budget impacts in some provinces, and unfavorable impacts on the distribution of family income. A case can be made for addressing these “collateral damages” as part of the decarbonization program. Finally, local government land and property taxes could be introduced with good advantage to the decarbonization program.

Keywords: Decarbonization in China; Decarbonization and local finance; Intergovernmental fiscal transfers; Coal sector; Industrial policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035356379
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