Governing China’s Energy in the Context of Global Governance

AuthorBo Kong
Published date01 September 2011
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-5899.2011.00124.x
Date01 September 2011
Governing China’s Energy in the
Context of Global Governance
Bo Kong
Johns Hopkins University SAIS
Abstract
This article seeks to understand what role China can and will play in global energy governance by examining how its
domestic energy context shapes the country’s attitudes toward the multilateral, market and climate change aspects of
global energy governance. It f‌inds that China demonstrates a preference for bilateral/regional to multilateral energy
institutions, exhibits an inclination to blend state and market when pursuing energy security, and shows a principally
consistent but pragmatically f‌lexible approach to global negotiations on climate change. Contrary to the conventional
wisdom, China’s engagement with the international energy order suggests that a rising and energy-hungry China has
not and is unlikely to upset the very system that has benef‌ited and will continue to benef‌it the country. Instead, this
article argues that China has shown signs and promises of contributing to global energy governance by offering
f‌inancial, technical solutions and stimulating the world to develop clean energy. However, energy governance in China
has experienced considerable capacity decay in the era of reform and globalization. This decay not only bodes ill for
the country’s ability to lead in global energy governance but also complicates international attempts to engage China
on complex energy and climate challenges.
Policy Implications
The fragmentation of the central government in China, together with the rise of substate actors and state-owned
f‌lagship energy corporations in the country’s energy governance, means that it is unrealistic to expect China to have
a unif‌ied view and voice on global energy governance in the near term.
In light of the fundamental interests of China to engage the international system, the country’s absence from the
world’s most important multilateral energy institutions says as much about its reluctance to join these restrictive
organizations as these organizations’ lack of seriousness to engage China.
The blending of market tools to a state-dominated energy economy characterizes China’s state capitalism approach
to addressing complex energy challenges and the country has largely exported this approach when it engages the
international energy market.
China’s staunch positions on climate change bespeak its preoccupation with development, but its changing atti-
tudes toward key issues in global climate negotiations ref‌lect its f‌lexible and pragmatic approach to development.
To seek effective participation from China in global energy governance, the international community cannot engage
Beijing alone; instead, it must also engage local governments in China that have gained autonomy over energy
affairs and those restructured and partially marketized energy SOEs that have exhibited entrepreneurship in shaping
and implementing the country’s energy and climate policies.
The scale of China’s energy economy and the country’s
rise in the international system bespeak its importance
for global energy governance – the setting and enforce-
ment of rules and regulations for global collective
energy interests. Specif‌ically, its transformation into the
world’s largest energy consumer and largest emitter of
greenhouse gases in very short order has placed the
country at the center of the discussion of almost every
single international energy policy: meeting the surging
global energy demand, reducing worldwide greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions, eliminating energy poverty and
mobilizing capital for transition toward a low-carbon
economy. Because of its scale, how China seeks its
energy security worldwide carries profound implications
for the stability of the global energy system and world
peace. Its global hunt for energy security also affects the
international attempt to develop and enforce interna-
tional standards for revenue management and revenue
transparency. The country’s importance for governing
global energy affairs is set to grow with the ongoing
reconf‌iguration of the international system that
accompanies a shift of the geopolitical power toward
Global Policy Volume 2 . Special Issue . September 2011
Global Policy (2011) 2:SI doi: 10.1111/j.1758-5899.2011.00124.x ª2011 London School of Economics and Political Science and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Research Article
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