From cleaner production to carbon management: lessons from the implementation of cleaner production in China and its implications on the promotion of carbon management

Abstract

Cleaner Production (CP) is defined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as “the continuous application of an integrated preventive environmental strategy to processes and products to reduce risks to humans and the environment”. Since 1994, UNEP in cooperation with United Nations Industry Development Organization (UNIDO), started to promote the application of CP by enterprises in developing and transition countries by setting up National Cleaner Production Centers (NCPCs) and National Cleaner Production Programmes (NCPPs). The China National Cleaner Production Centre (CNCPC) under the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) was established in December 1994 with an aim to promote China’s CP research and consultation. In 1995, CNCPC launched the “Ten, One Hundred, One Thousand, Ten Thousand” programme which aimed to promote CP in 10 heavily polluting industrial sectors in 100 cities throughout China. The target is to have CP in place in 1000 enterprises and train 10000 people in CP concepts and methods. Since then, the Chinese government has seriously considered a cleaner production law, which signified its intention to shift away from traditional reliance on end‐of‐pipe solution as the principle environmental protection strategy. The Cleaner Production Law was later passed in the National People’s Congress and became effective in 2003 …