China's Green Scheme

"The Five year economic plan, once an arcane exercise in communist fiat, has big implications for the outside world. It could affect the color of the sky, the planet's temperature, and the welfare of billions of people beyond the jurisdiction of the country's mandarins." - says Jonathon Watts of the Guardian, Saturday 5th, 2011

The 5 year plan:

• Energy efficiency and environmental services to be declared "priority industries" for the first time.
• 3 trillion yuan to be spent on environmental protection over the over the period - double the 2006-10 amount.
• A carbon intensity target - the ratio of GHG emissions relative to GDP - to be set.
• A new environmental tax on heavy polluters to levy fees on discharges of sulphur dioxide and other contaminants. 
• A mandatory carbon trading system on a regional level. 
• Other steps under discussion are a cap on energy use and a shift away from GDP-based performance evaluation. 

Source, the Guardian.