On January 29th, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China officially released a new article that regulates the excess capacity allowance for the top fourteen influential heavy industries in China including steel, cement, coal, glass and aluminum. One of the central callings states that, “Any programs that apply for additional increase in industrial capacity should not be allowed.”

Excess capacity describes the phenomenon that the demand for the product is less than the potential supply. Mamta Badkar, a writer for Business Insider, found that Chinese policy makers have been concerned about excess capacity since 2005 as the excess proportion of the products that are produced without utilization contributes to unnecessary production which result in an increase in resource consumption.

The environmental impact of the excess production includes unnecessary wastewater discharge and exhaust gas emission. As the top fourteen heavy industries contribute 75.8% of carbon emissions in China, we expect that shutting off their excess capacity, which is now required by the central Ministry of Environmental Protection of China, will definitely have an effect on halting additional carbon emission among the heavy industries. The effectiveness of the newly released articles, however, depends on the intensity of the local governments’ efforts to put these regulations into force.

The prohibition and halting of unnecessary industrial productions will certainly decrease unnecessary carbon emissions. The effectiveness of implementing this act depends on the efforts of local governments.

You can encourage the implementation of this regulation by sending the following message to the central environmental protection department asking them to support the application of this new act:

We’re glad that the government has taken the lead on carbon emission reduction. Regulations that prohibit excess capacity production on heavy industries would definitely reduce unnecessary carbon emissions. However, we urge you, our local government, to apply the regulations forcefully so that we move toward the fulfillment of the Paris Agreement.

Contact:

Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China
http://www.zhb.gov.cn/hdjl/bzxxzs_1/