US and China announce $1 trillion for low-carbon technologies by 2013

The Chinese low-carbon technologies market could reach $1 Trillion and 15% of its GDP in 2013, reports Envido.

The China Greentech Initiative, a group of more than 80 private and public stakeholders from the US and China, released a report outlining opportunities to grow China’s low-carbon technologies market.

The report states that the Chinese low-carbon technologies market could reach $1 trillion and 15% of China’s GDP in 2013, and identifies more than 300 Low-carbon technology solutions across seven sectors. It says the private sector can also play a large part in driving the Low-carbon technology sector, but only if the underlying low-carbon policy framework makes for an attractive business case.

This low-carbon report comes three months before the UN meeting in Copenhagen, where the world's leaders will try to reach an agreement on measures to tackle climate change and succeed the Kyoto Protocol.

The US refused to ratify Kyoto, citing the exclusion of developing countries. China has publicly rebuffed calls for mandatory carbon emissions caps, arguing that developed countries should shoulder the bulk of responsibility and cost of reducing carbon emissions. However, several reports have indicated in recent months the China’s willingness to join the global effort to reduce carbon emissions.

The world’s two top emitters formed a research partnership in July to study low carbon technologies. Both countries are also expected to sign a bilateral agreement in November on reducing carbon emissions together. China’s low-carbon technology initiatives’ could play a role in this bilateral treaty that would increase the volume of low-carbon technologies.

It would not be the first time that China and the US have collaborated to advance low-carbon technologies, although cries of protectionism have overshadowed some developments.

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