6 months ago when it became clear that China was going to act in a manner that defended its reserves or rare metals, it provided an opportunity perhaps the first public discussion on the fact that our reliance on these metals stretched beyond the traditional need. That, while we were planning a transition to the green economy, it turned out that many or the “renewable” energy technologies we were banking on to hit emission and energy intensity reductions were supported by the need for rare earth metals.

renewable. rare earth. renewable. rare earth. .. renewable rare earth?

Note: According to the article, rare earth metals are not actually all that rare.  That they are:

In fact, they aren’t even rare and are as common as copper or nickel. There are two main issues: Rare-earth minerals are costly and complicated to extract. And processing them is even more complex.

However, given the fact that 97% of production capacity for these metals is found in China, and it would take 15 years to bring capacity back to the US… I would say that makes them pretty rare. Especially if the tap were to be closed off.

Anyway, it was a time where some naturally scratched their heads and wondered how they had painted themselves into a corner, and an opportunity for others to sound the alarm that China was looking to stymie the US/ EU cleantech movement through the restriction of these metals.

That, while the RARE earth metals were .. rare… to reduce the amount available to export was seen as a nationalistic move meant to keep China on top of the cleantech war. Or is it a race?

At any rate, it appears that a firm in the US has decided to work to bring balance back in to the market and has gained rights to the Mountain Pass Mine from Chevron, and will be raising the 500 million USD necessary to start the mine back up and become the only rare metal mine in the Western hemisphere.  A move that could perhaps provide a semblance of relief to those who are currently in the market for these metals, but at the same time, it still has to make you wonder why anyone would design products that are mean to save (or destroy) the world when 97% of the capacity is held within a contained geographic and political boundary.

With a rising level of awareness about the role of consumers in the overall environmental picture rising, it would make sense that we would not only begin seeing studies about how consumers felt about green, and whether or not they are willing to buy “green”, but begin to see companies take steps to understand what that means for themselves as well.

In a recent report, Redesigning Business Value: A Roadmap for Sustainable Consumption, the World Economic Forum lays out a document that is in part supposed to report out and motivate leaders who were not in the room, and as always, part to show that there is a historic opportunity upon us. An opportunity that really is ours to waste.

So, with that, the report opens up with a set of constraints that they feel is needed to build a future of sustainable consumerism:

• Innovation: Sustainability is an enabler of innovation and should be at the core of the design of products and services and the development of new business models and platforms.
• Collaboration: New forms of collaboration between business partners, along entire value chains, and with key stakeholder groups will be needed.
• Investment: To catalyse a prosperous future, business needs to look beyond short-term pressures and focus on investment for the long term, working to build understanding among investors of the value at stake in long-term planning.
• Values: To become relevant in shaping a better future for society, new values-based frameworks are needed to align behavior in more productive and innovative ways.
• Leadership: As business leaders, we choose to lead from the front, because we see that the cost of inaction to our businesses far outweighs the cost of action.

All of which are good, but of course, I would also add Commitment and Sacrifice to that as well. commitment because while everyone keeps saying that this is a long term problem, strategies are still being constructed in a very short term manner… and have visibly fallen apart since COP15 wrapped up.  Sacrifice because (as I you will see later), this entire exercise is being sold a as a huge win for EVERYONE.  business wins, policy makers win, civil society wins, and the earth wins, and without any sacrifice on any level.  Sure there is a change in mindset, but costs of production will not have to go up, margins will hold, and consumers can choose all the sustainable products they want at the same cost (if not lower) than those stinky brown ones.

Why sustainable consumption matters to business
In 2009, The Business Case for Sustainability provided a cogent argument for sustainability as an issue that should be incorporated into the strategy and operations of business, not just as a matter of stakeholder responsibility but as a matter of business survival and value creation:

• Managing resource risks: Sustainability matters to business because it reduces exposure to volatile and rising resource prices, to the risk of increased scarcity of resources and to the risk that these (carbon, water, waste) are radically re-priced in the near future. Embracing models of sustainable consumption across the value chain will provide stronger resilience against external shocks.
• Shaping the regulatory environment: Principles of sustainability are increasingly being incorporated into the regulatory environment. If businesses wish to flourish in this environment, they must make themselves active participants in its construction.
• Engaging consumers as citizens: The biggest drivers of corporate sustainability investments are consumer concerns, employee interest and government legislation.8 For business, driving sustainable consumption can be an effective long-term strategy for deepening authentic engagement with consumers and employees.
• Engaging consumers as customers: Consumers increasingly want to be treated as customers, demanding not only more sustainable products and services, but also greater transparency over sourcing and content of existing ones. At the same time, the speed, spread and changing patterns of use of the media are forcing businesses to adopt pre-emptive strategies to manage their reputational risk on sustainability issues. Engaging proactively with the sustainable consumption is one way of managing these challenges in depth.
• Driving innovation: Businesses are the chief engines of value creation and innovation in society. The challenge of sustainable consumption presents an opportunity

A list of 100% gains for companies… that while good (and some very new), I think fails in some way to be completely transparent about the risks that business face should they continue to do little.  that, while some firms may have the opportunity to shape the regulatory environment, more than likely, they are going to be shaped BY IT.  That while they formulate a strategy on engaging citizens, heir once loyal consumers are going to turn into citizens and begin demanding change.

That being said though, where I do like the report (in attitude and guidance) is that while a bit over aspirational, it does offer a strong pragmatic approach for readers to follow, and is grounded in economic approach. That, while certainly selling the win to everyone, looking between the documents lines and you will see how it is promoting a radically different approach to how products are produced, sold, and disposed of through their closed loop analysis. The report also does a good job to highlight the importance of investment funds coming into the space to apply the appropriate pressure, as well as highlight the role that regulations will play as resources run dry and governments are forced to make a decision.

Issues that are highlighted through 6 sections of analysis, and at the end of the report, they developed a list of 6 steps for how this group intends to make it happen:

1. Catalyse opportunities for business towards creating a consumer movement for sustainable consumption
2. Connect corporate executives and university leaders, with a view to creating a pipeline of future talent for sustainable businesses
3. Index, compare and contrast the existing metrics and tools for measurement of sustainable consumption
4. Bridge perspectives between investors and companies on the role of sustainability in driving long-term value creation
5. Create an innovation platform for sustainability which connects open sourced intellectual property to developers and markets
6. Collaborating while competing: explore business models, tensions and solutions, and regulatory implications
7. Launch a pilot to measure and manage waste in the food value chain, and share key learnings
8. Launch a consumer industry pilot on reverse logistics, and identify key barriers and opportunities for scalable solutions
9. Develop a track to bring the business voice into the United Nations Process for Sustainable Consumption and Production
10. Look at the implications for business in moving beyond gross domestic product (GDP) as the main measure of social progress

To which I would add:

• Move economic calculations from current models to one that includes costs negative exernalities
• Move product sustainability initiatives beyond single products to entire portfolios
• Work with government agencies (and consumer groups) to move standards for industries forward (i.e. Hybrid technology rollout to EVERY car)
• Focus on making specific reductions in packaging waste, and improving product designs that improve reuse and recyclability
• Focus on real consumer awareness campaigns that provide unbiased sources of educational materials on products, where they come from, and the impacts they have on the economic, environmental, and societal sustainability.

All in all, where I really enjoyed this report – and others that WEF has put out – is the emphasis on multi-stakeholder engagement through an issue, and a respect for the role that the supply chain itself plays.  However, there is still a need for a bit more honestly when it comes to the fact that to achieve environmental balance and sustainability, there will be sacrifices.  sacrifices not only within industry, but also in the wider community.

Qingbaijiang garnered “2009 China Human Habitat Environment Model Award”
On March 15th came the good news from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction of the State: the ecological protection and urban greening project of Qingbaijiang District of Chengdu had garnered the “China Human Habitat Environment Model Award”, becoming Sichuan’s unique one among 34 awarded projects from around the country.

Chengdu striving to have forest cover rate reach 38% by 2015
Chengdu is a national forest city, and the forest cover rate has reached 36.8% last year. Through projects such as post-disaster revegetation, Longquan Maintain vegetation restoration, Chengdu is striving to achieve 38% of the forest cover rate in 2015. At present, the city has 24 forest parks of national level, provincial level and municipal level.

China’s first high-speed maglev naturalized prototype delivered in Chengdu
On April 8th, the country’s first high-speed maglev domestic prototype manufactured by AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Corporation was officially delivered to Shanghai Maglev Company, which marks the CAC of AVIC has equipped the domestic design, whole-vehicle integration and manufacturing capability of Maglev vehicles. It is also the first engineering prototype developed according to the German transfer technology and the improved program of Shanghai Maglev Company.

Suzhou Expo follows green path of Shanghai

Companies are riding the environment-friendly wave.
Pressure from the national government and tightening regulations in overseas markets are compelling a growing number of suppliers to modify their business strategies and incorporate ecologically safe processes. The transition is neither extreme nor desperate, but the impact could be widespread as many midsize and small companies are also taking “green” initiatives. Due to the sheer number of these suppliers, they account for a large portion of the pollution and wasteful practices in the country.

Irrespective of size, companies are introducing long-term strategies anchored on recycling, waste reduction and sustainable energy adoption.

Recycling is the most common practice among factories, one that is carried out internally or through third parties. This, however, goes beyond reusing offcuts and scrap materials. Highly polluting industries such as leather tanning have always been required to invest in wastewater cleaning systems, but very few actually do. Now, many are investing large sums in such facilities not only to comply with local ordinances but also as a marketing tool. This comes as an increasing number of buyers are including social responsibility as a criterion in supplier selection.

Fujian Guanxing Leather Co. Ltd in Shishi, a city under the municipality of Quanzhou in Fujian province, has invested $3 million in a 6,000-ton capacity wastewater processing station. Once operational, the facility is expected to save the company $1.4 million annually.

In fact, waste recycling is becoming the norm in the city, one of the major garment and textile hubs in the province. More than 20 manufacturers have now installed treatment systems such as those from Carrousel. The majority of Fujian factories that dye fabrics in-house have similar facilities for their sewerage as well. Moreover, several local governments have set up complementary wastewater recycling services to help ensure a continuous supply of fresh water.

When it comes to material refuse, many large enterprises contract professional disposal services. Small and midsize businesses often transact with recyclers and junkyard operators.

Guangdong Weiermei Underwear Co. Ltd, for instance, sells fabric cutoffs to waste collectors. Watch exporter Shenzhen Full Success Gift Mfg Ltd and lock specialist Make Locks Manufacturer Ltd vend metal scraps to recyclers.

Some companies involve customers in their green efforts. On request, Shenzhen FJY Electronic Co. Ltd uses recycled materials during production. Doing so has the additional benefit of lowering unit costs.

Adopting degradable materials, however, does not always bring a similar effect. In the beauty and cosmetics industry, bottles made from such substances are about 20 percent more expensive than conventional plastic.

While recycling and reusing are gaining more adherents, only a handful of operations are tapping sustainable energy sources such as wind or solar power. Cynthia Garments Making (Dalian) Co. Ltd has taken steps to do so by using solar water heating at its workers’ dormitories.

Management disciplines strengthen sustainable practices
In an effort to cement their commitment to environment-friendly manufacturing, many suppliers are acquiring ISO 14001:2004 certification and implementing ERP, 5S, 8S and 3R systems. Doing so lessens raw material wastage, management costs and delivery time. It smoothens production processes as well. “We calculate the exact unit consumption of fabrics and accessories,” Cynthia business manager Tony Tong said. “We purchase strictly in proportion with the orders to reduce wastage.”

Other production and purchasing decisions are also influenced by green principles.

Video phone manufacturer Xiamen Leelen Technology Co. Ltd cooperates with the environmental services group ABB, a global engineering enterprise that promotes sustainable industrial productivity.

Mindful of energy conservation, car amplifier exporter Shenzhen Actiway Electronics Co. Ltd included power saving as a criterion in selecting SMT machines.

Fujian Golden Vision LCD Science & Technology Co. Ltd has designated one of its engineers to be responsible specifically for developing ways to reduce power, water and raw material consumption during production.

Some factories outsource processes that are potentially hazardous to the environment. Lock companies in Zhejiang and Shandong provinces subcontract electroplating and paint coating to local specialists who are not only more capable but also use professional equipment that produces less pollution.

In some industries, higher productivity is correlated directly to waste reduction. Makers are emphasizing worker training to upgrade efficiency, trim down defects and reduce wastage.

But green manufacturing still has its obstacles.

Often suppliers are not motivated enough to adopt sustainable practices in production. Unless required by buyers, any effort to introduce ecologically safe processes is only deemed as an unwarranted cost. For such businesses, compliance with RoHS, WEEE and other regulations is sufficient in showing their environmental commitment.

Greenpeace keeping a scorecard
In October 2009, a report by Greenpeace highlighted the elevated pollution levels in the Pearl River in southern China. As the main source of drinking water for about 4.7 million residents, the estuary is where thousands of factories dump their waste as well. A high-level cocktail of beryllium, copper, manganese, BPA, alkylphenols and other hazardous chemicals were discovered in analyzed samples from eight cities around the river.

The report also enumerated the noncompliance of at least 18 major private locally owned and multinational companies in the Fortune Global 500 or the China 100 list with pollution disclosure rules implemented by the Ministry of Environmental Protection in May 2008. Samsung, Nestle, LG, Motorola and Sinopec were among the companies cited for exceeding emissions standards and failing to publish their pollution data within 30 days after being blacklisted as the rule required.

Greenpeace has been active in helping monitor and expose environmentally destructive practices in China. Its media reports have helped pressure manufacturers to adopt more eco-friendly systems and for local governments and enforcement agencies to implement laws and tighten standards.

The group, however, admitted its own limitations as it failed to include hundreds of thousands of small operations that are also heavy polluters.

This article was originally published by Global Sources, a leading business-to-business media company and a primary facilitator of trade with China manufacturers and India suppliers, providing essential sourcing information to volume buyers through our e-magazines, trade shows and industry research.

2. Green Chengdu, 100 electric buses to drive on streets this year
This year, the program of actions on the promotion of the industrialization of electric vehicles of Chengdu City had finally settled, learnt the journalist recently from the Municipal Energy Office. The program fixed the execution of the “Hundred-thousand-ten-thousands” project, the demonstration and popularization of electric buses, namely hundred urban public transport, thousand taxis and ten thousand private cars. According to the program phased targets, in 2010, Chengdu will complete the target of putting into the demonstrational operation of 100 electric buses and 100 electric city sanitation trucks. The State Grid Corporation Sichuan branch then launched a supporting facilities construction project, and will build 3 electric vehicle charging stations and 300 charging stacks in Chengdu this year. In 2012, Chengdu will form a production capacity of 20,000 electric vehicles.

3. Chengdu plans to invest 43.85 billion yuan to build modern agricultural base
Chengdu recently has published the Construction Plan of Modern Agricultural Base Project of Chengdu (2010-2017), planning to invest 43.85 billion yuan in the construction of modern agricultural base, and to realize 8.5% annual growth of the average peasantry income and achieve 2.8 million tons of total grain output in 2017, striving to build Chengdu into a “Western China first and domestic leading” modern agricultural development demonstration zone and the country’s important modern agricultural base.

4. “Water city of Abundance Heaven”, Jintang awarded as first “National Garden County” in Sichuan
Recently, through the initial approval of the Ministry of Construction, expert review and publicity, Jintang County of Chengdu has successfully obtained the title of “National Garden County” of 2009, not only becoming one of the 31 honored counties throughout the country in 2009, but also being the first in Sichuan, which signified that the county’s constructing of a new livable landscape city had taken a milestone step.

Tongchu organics is on a road off a main road and surrounded by other local farms and a natural water canal on one side. Upon arrival we were shown their vegetable packing room, pretty well set up with glass windows and a group of ladies with aprons and caps working inside on the vegetable washing conveyor belt machine. Tongchu supplies many of the supermarkets, restaurants and hotels in town and they have always had a large lettuce and leaves supply to meet the demand for salad ingredients for Western tastes. This leaf washing was quite a novelty as it occurred to me that we weren’t shown the washing/packing area in the other farms. So far so good, we were impressed.

Next we went out to check out the water supply and a small pump/purifier machine which purifies the natural water sources. Again the quality of water and cleaning process is one I know people are interested in and all I can report is that all farms purify the water, just how safe it is for vegetable watering and us eating raw vegetables  I don’t know but as Tongchu produce a lot of salad mixes the leaves are pre-washed and then packed in bags/plastic boxes.

Tongchu is 100 hectares, in between in size of the previous 2 farms we visited, and is only 2 years old. Previously the owners sourced and imported organic products such as shampoo, dried foods etc. We were told the soil has been cleaned and that they use a combinations of soils and organic soil from Canada and Mongolia. Also reassuring was that the organic certifiers had come the other week to take soil samples and do ongoing tests. (the certification and ongoing monitoring of the industry is still not clear to me yet)

We walked around the farm, again most vegetables are grown in the tent/canopy enclosures and were told that because its winter they don’t grow out of season vegetables. We learnt that corn isn’t traditionally winter food and we shouldn’t eat it in this season. Lots of cabbage, lettuce, leafy greens, spinach, radishes could be observed and even though I’m no soil expert this soil did look very healthy and rich. Could have something to do with the newly installed watering system I spotted up above, and turns out its only 2 months old. Tongchu organics use a raised sprinkler system, similar to the other farms, and the similar hanging boards to catch bugs inside.

One thing we were pleasantly surprised with was the variety of herbs they have, Tongchu organics has one large tent in which they grow a comprehensive range of potted herbs. Everything from lemongrass, dill, basil, parsley, chocolate mint, to spearmint and rosemary, and one of their owners is working on home herb growing system which is pretty neat, so later this year people could have their own herb garden on their balconies. Also impressive was that all the vegetables and herbs in every tent were well labeled and identifiable for visitors. Tongchu organics also showed us another new glasshouse nearby on another property, inside they grow more leafy greens and a wide variety of young lettuce to supply to the restaurants and hotels.

Tongchu does do home deliveries like the other farms and are welcome to visitors at the farm by appointment. Their vegetables are readily available at City Super branches in Shanghai. http://www.tongchu.com.cn/

Overall whilst I’m no expert I think the farm visits so far have been worthwhile in starting to understand the nature of organic farms in and around Shanghai and answering the question on everyone’s mind; is it worth paying more for organic fruits and vegetables? My answer is yes. I don’t eat organic 100% yet but from hearing stories about Chinese farmers growing a patch for sale and a patch for themselves and all the potential pesticides and growth inducing chemicals on regular vegetables I’m more inclined to check out the organic suppliers and options in Shanghai. Again, I believe it is all relative and we can only do and buy what we believe is clean, healthy and affordable.

Check out the site here. or click on the individual activities below:

• Merry Countryside Tour in Baoshan Oriental Holiday Garden Zhangshu Village
• Fengxian Metropolitan Vegetable Farm
• Fengxian Yuhui Green Garden
• Merry Countryside Tour in Chongming Qianwei Village
• Jiading Huating Farm-Maoqiao Village
• Songjiang Wushe Agricultural Leisure and Sightseeing Park
• Jiading Malu Grapery
• Nanhui Shuyuanrenjia

Tony’s Farm is located in Nanhui district and by car is just over an hour from downtown Puxi . It’s a large scale commercial operation with 280 acres of organic vegetables surrounded by other farm and agricultural land. Unlike some of the other organic farms this is a huge project and they are currently building their own moats, or what are best described as moats around the farm to create islands of vegetable plots. Tony’s Farm also has their own fertilization and manure mixing area, water filtration and holding tanks, ponds and a very impressive clubhouse with full kitchen and dining rooms. I believe I also spotted a wind mill in front of the glass house exhibition areas- in future they will hold tours and classes in organic farming.

The water distribution system at Tony’s Farm is a combination of either hanging pipes and a drip system or an imbedded water pipe in the rows of soil mounds,  depending on the type of vegetable growing in the tent. The surrounding gutters and drains were very clean and actually dry- no water run off or excess that we saw, and overall it appears to be a very clean and well organized operation. The fertilizers used are their own mixture which consists of mushroom and soy by-product which they get from Shanghai suppliers and manure from animals….there weren’t many animals observed though, except for about 20-30 healthy looking lambs in one pen area. During our tour of the farm and the fertilizer area, we also saw large tanks of bacteria, which they grow/ferment themselves and mix into the fertilizer mixture. No pesticides are allowed of course and they use the same yellow boards to attract and catch the bugs inside the tents.

This farm has 400 of its own staff and have their own staff living quarters, and Tony himself and his family are often there and live there for short periods of time. Tony’s Farm do weekly vegetable delivery to customers and members and have a good mixture of vegetables (and only vegetables at this stage) which you can chose from for the “Chinese” or “Western” box sets.

If you want to learn about organic farming, drive around in a golf buggy and take a healthy day trip out with the family this is a great option. From a commercial point of view this has to be one of the largest if not the largest organic farm in Shanghai, and its run as a business to grow vegetables for individual and commercial customers. They work with a number of the 5 star hotels and chefs.

I have come to realize that eating organic is very much a concept of relativity. The wet market vegetables in Shanghai are better quality than the individual carts selling produce, the supermarket vegetables are more expensive but appear to be “cleaner” than the wet market vegetables, and the organic vegetables that you can buy at a Farmers market or get home delivered are safest, taste freshest and make you feel healthy and clean. Now, the organic vegetables in Shanghai may not be 100% totally organic in terms of the soil, water, seed or air pollution BUT they are cleaner and definitely greener relatively speaking than the mass produce available on the market. Its your choice whether you want to pay more for organic vegetables, and realistically unless I’m on the raw food diet I will continue to purchase a mix of organic produce, supermarket and occasionally wet market vegetables.

Next week we are staying in Puxi and visiting Tongchu Organic farm.

Recent Green Building News, City profiles, Interviews with NGO leaders, and special features, and given this is the first edition, they have jam packed it with content.. although, I would really like to see a “tips” section for various real estate professionals that would provide an immediate knowledge transfer.