Environment and clean technology: The east is green

[This feature is part of The year ahead 2010]

China's top leadership is now working on the country's next five-year plan, and it looks likely to be a green one.

According to a recent Financial Times report, the twelfth plan, which covers the years 2011 to 2015, should include a low-carbon road map drawn up by a team of academics, business people, charity workers and other specialists in clean technology. The plan contains various low-carbon options, the least onerous of which will mean a 30% reduction in predicted carbon emissions by 2050. The newspaper reported remarks from Lord Stern, a noted economist and climate campaigner, who said the report “was the most careful, thorough analysis by any country”.