Environmental Consequences of Rising Energy Use in China

China is already the world's third largest energy producer and second largest energy consumer accounting for 10 percent of global energy use. This share is expected to rise to 15 percent by 2025. Energy use in China has important environmental consequences which are explored in this paper. A range of policy options are also discussed. It is argued that each major environmental issue requires a policy response that is a mix of direct government intervention as well as market based incentives. In coming decades, the choices made by China of how to tackle the environmental consequences of expanding energy use will have important implications for China, Asia and the world.