China will embark on the road to a low-carbon economy in its next-five year plan. It will be a momentous decision, for China and the world.

The decision is a result of a growing sense of necessity. China is a huge land mass with diverse climate regimes, all subject to the effects of climate change. In northern China the Ningxia province already suffers a 2 per cent loss of gross domestic product per year from the effects of climate extremes. This will only worsen.

The Chinese leaders are moved by a sense of urgency. Following the traditional economic model is not an option: resource, social and environmental constraints make it impossible. They are also aware of the danger that rapid growth will lock China into industrial and urban structures that will become a liability in a low-carbon world.