Erik Baark

Erik Baark

Visiting Scholar, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science; Professor Emeritus, Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

Erik Baark is a visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, and Professor Emeritus at the Division of Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. He received a PhD at the University of Lund (1986) and a DPhil at the University of Copenhagen (1998). His research on China includes the analysis of information systems and IT development and high technology entrepreneurship during recent policy reforms. He has also published extensively on topics such as innovation in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. His numerous publications include the book Lightning Wires: Telegraphs and China's Technological Modernization 1860-1890 (Greenwood Press, 1997) and articles in leading international area studies journals such as The China Quarterly and innovation research journals such as Research Policy and the International Journal of Technology Management. 

 

Climate activists protest after a draft of a negotiation deal was released, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 13 December 2023. (Rula Rouhana/Reuters)

China has reasons to smile about the COP28 climate summit

Erik Baark takes stock of China’s gains at COP28 in Dubai in December 2023. The status of China in the negotiations was clearly enhanced by the compromise achieved by the US and China with the Sunnylands Statement in November 2023. On the difficult matter of establishing an international consensus on the approach to fossil fuels, China also seems to have found room to manoeuvre in the call for countries to commit to “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems”.
People involved in climate activism hold a demonstration in the Financial District of Manhattan to demand an end to fossil fuel funding by Wall Street and the American government on 18 September 2023 in New York City, US. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP)

Can the US and China solve the climate crisis for us?

US-China pledges to work together on climate action have been all too familiar, throughout times of changing US administrations and tense US-China relations. Even as cajoling each power to take more action has its limits, the greater danger is a global green technology war that punishes the global south.
A BYD Co. Dolphin electric vehicle at the Smart China Expo in Chongqing, China, on 4 September 2023. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

Is China's EV rise a true success?

The EV adventure in China has been successful in some respects, not least with 5.9 million EVs sold on the Chinese market, amounting to 59% of EVs sold globally. However, as a means to reduce climate change, the effort has tended to “put the cart in front of the horse”, because EVs are not particularly environmentally friendly without a steady stream of renewable electricity supply. Academic Erik Baark lays out the factors involved.
A woman walks on a street during a sandstorm in Shenyang, in China's northeastern Liaoning province on 11 April 2023. (AFP)

China's struggle to meet 'dual carbon' targets and stand proud at COP28 climate summit

With just about six months to go to the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai, how is China stepping up its transition to a low-carbon economy and is it on track to achieve a peak in carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060?
 A central processing unit (CPU) semiconductor chip is displayed among flags of China and U.S., in this illustration picture taken 17 February 2023. (Florence Lo/Reuters)

Tech war: The US's mimicking of Chinese policies is fundamentally flawed

Erik Baark observes that the US has an added motive for using ‘national security’ to impose various high-tech export restrictions on China — to give itself wriggle room vis-à-vis WTO rules for trade trade and trade restrictions. In fact, many of their policies seem to be mimicking the very Chinese techno-nationalist and neo-mercantilist attitudes that have been criticised by the West, and may or may not achieve their intended effect.
This photo taken on 2 July 2022 shows coal loaded on trains at a coal plant in Huaibei, in China's eastern Anhui province. (AFP)

A happy birthday to China’s national emissions trading scheme

Erik Baark points out some of the peculiarities of China’s emissions trading system (ETS) with Chinese characteristics on its one-year anniversary. Going forward, will the Chinese ETS gradually morph into an ETS in the likes of the EU ETS as it works towards meeting its dual carbon ambitions?
A pedestrian walks past a sign for China Broadnet 5G services in Chaoyang district, Beijing, China, 27 June 2022. (CNS)

China's 5G ambitions undiminished by pandemic and sanctions

While China has accelerated its push to build the infrastructure and to promote 5G among telcos and subscribers, it still faces a shortage of exciting new 5G applications that will draw in a constant stream of consumers or find wider industrial use. Amid a hostile external environment, it also faces some challenges in rolling out 5G and other advanced digital technologies through the Digital Silk Road. Nonetheless, it plans to go full steam ahead.
A woman guides a boy learning to cycle below power lines in Beijing, China, on 13 October 2021. (Noel Celis/AFP)

Why China will continue to experience power cuts

Erik Baark takes a bird’s eye view of the structure of energy supply and demand in China, analysing how macro issues led to the September 2021 rash of power cuts across China. He notes that China's continued development needs energy, and a shift from heavy industries to services or high-tech fields does not mean that the country's energy needs will decrease. The Chinese government is looking to new and renewable energy resources to take the place of the old, but transitioning to new energy sources is not an easy process, especially when different actors are trying to protect their own terrain and a mindset change is necessary. It will be a tall order for the Chinese government to get local governments, old power grid corporations and the public to align with new policies and thinking. All this means that power cuts will not be going away anytime soon.
Wind turbines on the outskirts of the new city area of Yumen, Gansu province, China on 31 March 2021. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

Can China keep its climate change promises?

The adoption of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) with significant targets for the development of renewable energy and other green technologies, together with the launch of a national carbon emissions trading scheme, indicates that the Chinese leadership is committed to policies that should reduce the nation’s carbon footprint, ultimately leading to a zero-emission economy by 2060. However, the complexities of implementing these policies are daunting, with stakeholders that are likely to resist change and reforms that require substantial investment over the next decades.