Is Clean Air Possible? A Critical Analysis of China's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions for the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2015.

In December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, 195 countries signed to the world's first comprehensive climate change agreement; The Paris Agreement. Subsequently 155 of these countries have ratified the agreement. This is makes apparent the global consensus that global climate change is fast becoming the most important issue facing our world today. Being the largest contributor to global emission, China is a significant player in this agreement and therefore their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions merit a closer examination. Under the SWOT framework, China's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions have been subjected to a critical policy analysis, a comparative analysis, and a feasibility study. From this, there is a determination of the likelihood of implementation. While it is determined that the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions are relatively feasible for China, there are complications in relation to the domestic enforceability of the policies that would result from changes made to current policy. The National Government recognizes the need for more enforceability of policies, however, it remains questionable as to whether coherent and cooperative enforcement will be achievable.