This week, the Chinese government launched its 2010 Green development index, which ranks cities and provinces according to their performance in striking a balance between economic expansion and environmental protection. The index represents China’s first index system used for monitoring and measuring green development and involved Beijing Normal University, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics and the National Bureau of Statistics.

The green development index system consists of three primary indices ( greenness of economic growth, potential of natural resources and environment and support from government policies), further subdivided into nine secondary and more than 50 tertiary indices. These indices measure for instance the production and resource utilization efficiency in the process of economic growth, the protection of resources and ecosystems, the disposal of pollutants, governmental investments and the management of green development.

Among the thirty provinces participating to the analysis, only 12 are ranked above national average, with Beijing ranking first and Shanghai ranking fourth.

Climate Policy News

• This news is extracted from the Climate Policy News : a CMCC weekly column that summarises the latest news on international climate change agreements, the updates on the carbon market and the energy and technology updates in the realm of climate change. Go to the web page and see all previous issues since March 2007.
• This week: EC boost funding for CCS and renewables; EU Draft White Paper on Transport; California: no to 23, yes to 26; China’s green development index; the carbon market this week – Download the November 1-7, 2010 Newsletter