China Environmental News Alert
Posted August 21, 2009 in Greening China
NRDC has been working in China for over twelve years on such issues as energy efficiency, green buildings, clean energy technologies, environmental governance and public participation, and green supply chain issues. This China Environmental News Alert is a weekly compilation of news from around the world on China and the environment.
August 15, 2009 - August 21, 2009
China and the March to Copenhagen
In light of the upcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen, CENA will be expanding its focus on China's climate and energy policies and the international climate negotiations.
China study urges greenhouse gas peak in 2030
A new study by China's top climate change policy advisers emphasizes China's status as the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases and urges a policy that would make emissions peak in 2030. In a departure from the Chinese government's previous rejection of emissions caps, the study called for the establishment of relative and then absolute emissions targets in the near future in order to achieve the 2030 peak.
Reuters (August 17, 2009)
China's carbon emissions will not continue to rise beyond the year 2050, said Su Wei, climate change director-general at the National Development and Reform Commission. Mr. Su reiterated China's resistance to an absolute limit on domestic emissions, but said that the country's next five-year plan would include more stringent targets for carbon intensity reduction.
Financial Times (August 15, 2009)
China mulls climate resolution
Top Chinese officials will consider a draft resolution on climate change and a draft amendment to the country's current three-year-old renewable energy law at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress next week. Though Chinese officials have consistently rejected the idea of a domestic cap on carbon dioxide emissions, some think the recent report by Chinese scientists could influence officials' view of caps.
Wall Street Journal (AP) (August 18, 2009)
Shanghai Energy Exchange to create a platform for global technology transfer (original Chinese source)
In order to ensure that developed nations provide developing nations with funds to effectively address climate change, the Shanghai Energy Exchange has established a platform for the often-sensitive issue of tech transfer. Relying on international sharing of ideas, Shanghai Energy Exchange officials also hope to develop a training program specifically for Chinese companies to reduce carbon emissions.
Xinhua (August 14, 2009)
Lead poisoning stokes tensions in Chinese town
After Chinese officials promised last week to relocate villagers in Shaanxi province who suffered lead poisoning from a local smelting factory, the issue of industrial pollution threatening local populations has received sharp attention in Chinese and international media. NRDC China Program staff attorney Hu Yuanqiong says the case of the Shaanxi smelter also highlights the need to "make information open and allow public participation in monitoring emissions and to have a mechanism between the public and the factories to talk things out and resolve disputes."
AP (August 20, 2009)
Related Article: Lead poisoning persists in relocation site, villagers claim
Another smelter shut down amid lead poisoning fears
A smelter in China's central Hunan province was closed after more than 1,300 children under the age of 14 were found to have elevated levels of lead in their blood. Officials say blood tests of residents in the area will continue and that those affected are receiving free medical treatment.
Xinhua (August 20, 2009)
China's "cancer villages" heavily polluted
Dubbed "cancer villages" because of the high numbers of residents who become ill from the hazardous environment, villages that are overrun by industrial or chemical pollution are multiplying across rural China and their stories are increasingly tragic. Some residents say local authorities are so focused on providing the area with an economic boost that their calls for environmental and health regulations go unheeded.
Washington Times (August 16, 2009)
Incineration gets locals all fired up
Residents of a north Beijing neighborhood have decried plans to build a waste incineration plant near their homes, which they say presents a health hazard. The outcry highlights the growing urgency of reform to China's waste disposal system, which is straining to meet the large amounts of waste generated by an increasing population.
China Daily (August 18, 2009)
1,200 new cars hit Beijing every day: state media
With 1,200 new cars on the road every day in the first seven months of this year-a nine percent increase from last year-Beijing has one of the fastest-rising numbers of cars in the world. Ninety-seven percent of the new vehicles were private cars, contributing to fears of unsustainable car use in the city.
AFP (August 16, 2009)
Clean technology may trump tough emissions controls, joint U.S.-China study says
Though emissions caps are theoretically appealing, clean energy is a more practical and effective method of limiting greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study by the Center for Clean Air Policy and Beijing's Tsinghua University. Researchers say investment in energy efficiency technology is a more reliable alternative to emissions caps, which often require data that is not available in many developing countries.
New York Times (August 17, 2009)
Tony Blair: "We can't ask people not to own cars"
Developing low-carbon technology is a more practical solution to climate change than insisting developing countries sacrifice economic growth, former UK prime minister Tony Blair said in Beijing on Wednesday at the launch of a new report by his Climate Group. Blair said halting China's booming car sales is unrealistic, emphasizing the importance of sustainable lifestyle changes rather than deprivation.
Guardian (August 20, 2009)
"Superpower" Australia inks huge China energy deal
In a move Australia says signals its new prominence in the global resources trade, PetroChina-whose parent company, China National Petroleum Corp, is China's largest oil producer-has ordered 2.25 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from western Australia. The $41.3 billion deal was heralded as Australia's biggest ever trade agreement, and highlights China's expanding access of overseas energy resources.
AFP (August 19, 2009)
China's wind-energy bottleneck: obstacles with an overwhelmed power grid and expensive technology (original Chinese source)
China's recent development of wind power technology will start a new chapter with the construction of a 500 million kilowatt wind power station in Jiuquan, Gansu Province. After the success of several other wind power bases throughout the country, this ambitious project, which if successful would result in the world's largest wind-energy power grid, is fraught with potential obstacles.
Science News (August 18, 2009)
The sky is not falling: pollution in eastern China cuts light, useful rain
A new study by Chinese and American researchers found that air pollution can significantly alter rainfall patterns in northeast China, reducing the number of "light rain" days that are critical to maintaining crops. In the heavily polluted areas examined in the study, the proliferation of tiny pollution particles in the air makes it difficult for rain clouds to form, and thus rain falls with far less frequency.
ScienceDaily (August 17, 2009)
Beijing to companies: Clean up China
Foreign companies feature prominently in figures recently published by Beijing officials listing the city's top polluters and energy users. The Beijing plants of American Coca-Cola and Pepsi were listed among the top sources of water pollution, while a Benz-DaimlerChrystler plant was one of the highest energy users.
Forbes (August 20, 2009)
As the world becomes warmer, the poor become poorer (original Chinese source)
A report recently released by Greenpeace and Oxfam examines the correlation between poverty-stricken regions and fragile ecological environments in China. The first report to analyze economically disadvantaged areas from a climate change perspective, "Climate Change and Poverty-The China Case" provides data and strategies for China's future welfare programs to better address climate change in impoverished regions.
China Weather Web (August 17, 2009)
Warming of plateau is "threatening all Asia" (original Chinese source)
The Qinghai-Tibetan plateau is warming faster than the rest of the world, and changes to its unique environment could have disastrous global consequences. One danger is that as the permafrost that makes up the plateau warms and degrades, rainfall patterns will be upset, resulting in droughts and floods throughout Asia.
Xinhua (August 18, 2009)
Increasing ocean surface temperatures linked to record high air temperature in Vancouver (original Chinese source)
The effects of rising ocean surface temperatures are being felt on both sides of the Pacific: last month a new high temperature record was set in Vancouver, followed by the disastrous Typhoon Morakot that struck southern Taiwan and parts of China and Japan earlier this month. As global warming accelerates, all eyes are on the world's largest carbon dioxide emitters-the U.S. and China-to shape the future of climate change policy.
Global Network China (August 18, 2009)
Interview: China losing out in low-carbon economy bonanza
Mei Dewen, general manager of China's fledgling domestic CO2 exchange, the China Beijing Environmental Exchange, says his country lacks any financial structure capable of supporting and expanding such a market. Though he noted China's reliance on foreign installers and traders, Mei also praised China's dominance in renewable energy manufacturing and the massive amounts of carbon credits China has sold abroad.
Reuters (August 19, 2009)
The great paradox of China: green energy, black skies
This analysis of the ever-present tension between China's economic and environmental interests features a quotation from Barbara Finamore, founder and director of NRDC's China Program, among other leaders in Chinese environmental protection. Though the author praises China's impressive progress in investing in developing a booming green energy sector, she still concludes that now and in the foreseeable future, economic growth will not be forsaken for the environmental cause.
Reuters (August 18, 2009)
(CENA prepared by Kit Thayer)
See our bilingual (English and Chinese) blog dedicated to discussion of China's environmental law, policy and public participation at http://www.greenlaw.org.cn.
