By IANS,
Beijing : Around 350 million people in China would migrate to urban areas over the next two decades, which would lead to the emission of more than 13.9 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases, a UN report has said.
China will be under mounting pressure to maintain environment friendly and sustainable development in urban areas because a large number of people will migrate to cities from rural areas, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report released Thursday said.
The China National Human Development Report 2009-10 compiled by by Renmin University says urban migration can pose a major challenge, but it also gives the nation an opportunity to develop low carbon lifestyles with advanced technology.
Urban areas will face enormous pressure to build infrastructures and housing for the newcomers, which, in turn, will lead to more energy consumption and pollution, it said.
Cities, at present, use up to 85 percent of the energy produced in the country, and emit 85 percent of the total carbon dioxide, the ministry of housing and urban-rural development said.
The report further said if no control measures were taken, the country would emit 13.9 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2030.
“China could now leapfrog over decades of traditional development based on high polluting fuel, and build new low carbon communities from scratch,” Khalid Malik, UN resident coordinator in China, was quoted as saying by Global Times Friday.
The report said transformation from traditional development to low carbon living is costly, and will lead to a series of problems during the transition period, such as job losses in the traditional energy sector, price rise of commodities and reduction of government revenue.
It, however, expressed hope that a low carbon strategy will boost economic growth in the long run and enhance the competitiveness of China in the world.
Some 6.9 million jobs related to the renewable energy industry will be created by 2030, it said.
At the end of 2009, China had pledged to cut the amount of carbon dioxide produced by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, compared to 2005 level.