Cleaner Greener China

July 27, 2009

Training for Green Lawyers and Judges in China

Filed under: Greener NGOs — Tags: , , — Rich @ 3:05 am

Last year when attending a meeting of legal aid groups, I was exposed to  a side of lawyers that I had not seen (or had not been aware of).  That, behind the scenes of China’s developing civil society, its lawyers were beginning to develop means that would ultimately support those affected by lax environmental compliance and enforcement.

IT was one of those “ah-ha” moments that lead to a new appreciation of lawyers, and one of those” ah-ha” moments where I realized that the old model was changing.  That, as an NGO leader in China, as lawyers (and media) engaged, improvements could be made on a much higher level.  It was an important revelation in my mind, and the recent NRDC announcement NRDC and Partners Establish New Environmental Law Training Base for Judges, Lawyers and Environmental Regulators in Central Chinaprovides another encouraging sign that more improvements are on the way:

NRDC has been working on environmental governance and rule of law issues in China since 2005.  As part of this work, last week, we launched a new environmental law training base for judges and lawyers last week in Wuhan, Hubei Province in collaboration with Zhongnan University of Economics and Law and the American Bar Association’s China Rule of Law Initiative.  It is the first training center of its kind outside of Beijing.

simply put, this is a big step, an important step for China as it goes forward and looks to improve the process through which violations surface and are managed. that, while the old system of flareups may have been effective for that particular cause, it did not improve the system, and that through a wider program of training lawyers and judges we can look forward to improvements in how environmental cases are handled.

April 7, 2009

China’s Proposed Energy Law

Filed under: Greener Tech, Policies and Issues — Tags: , — Rich @ 12:24 am

Over the last few years as China’s power producers unable to keep up with the surging demand have been knocking up 2 coal fire plants a week,  large cities have choked from SOX/ NOX being spewed out from these facilities, and the government has begun to announce a flurry of programs, investments, incentives, and targets to address the problem.

Needless to say, through this process, China required a new energy law that would help to define the framework of China’s energy future,  and In the March edition of Asian Counsel, the Jeff Greene, Michael Chen, and Julie Tong article China’s Proposed Energy Law (PDF Download here) does a great service by explaining the law, its potential impact, and where opportunities for investors will present themselves.

It is an excellend guide for those looking to learn more about the framework, the agencies involved, and what opportunities will present themselves.

March 27, 2009

Ma Jun on Defending Water Security

Filed under: Greener People — Tags: , , — Rich @ 8:23 am

In the recent China Dialogue Article Defending Water Security, Ma Jun writes a very compelling piece on what can happen when weak environmental protection is allowed to continue.

Following the recent events in Yancheng, the article shows the time line leading up to the spill possessed not only multiple opportunities to prevent the accident, but that local officials were fully aware that it was only a matter of time before an accident happened:

In the meeting that set out the plan, one city leader described the threat from chemical plants as a time bomb threatening water security in Yancheng. He cited a chemical leak at Longfeng Aromatics, strange odours coming from the river in 2004 and 2005 and a waste leak from Anhu Agricultural Chemicals in 2007.

However, one year later Yancheng extended the deadline for closing or relocating 10 of the firms until the end of 2009. These firms included Biaoxin. Indecision and delay meant a serious incident was permitted to happen. On February 20, Biaoxin dumped 30 tonnes of phenol-contaminated effluent into the Mangshe River.

It is a decision tree that unfortunately is rooted very deeply in China. One where attitudes are incubated to believe that either it won’t happen to them, or that if it does happen, someone else will be held responsible for it persists.

Going forward though, and perhaps Ma Jun could have added a bit of punch with this, is that there are problems all over China that are festering because weak enforcement and sense of responsibility are inhibiting action. .. and that we are only going to see problems grow in frequency and size

If we want to drink clean water, we need to control pollution and stop projects that contaminate our rivers. This requires widespread participation in environmental management and policymaking. Understanding the environmental costs and benefits of various projects will help us find a balance and a negotiated compromise between different interests. We have no time to waste: to protect our water we need a new type of decision-making. It will test the will and the capacity of government at all levels to implement the scientific view of development.

December 22, 2008

Shanghai Subsidy to Invest in Energy Saving Equipment Installation

Filed under: Greener Products — Tags: , — Rich @ 11:30 am

For those who have researched solar usage, perhaps the worst irony of the fact that China is a leader in manufacturing panels is that 98% of the panel are exported.  Primarily becuase meters cannot put energy back on the grid, and there is some debate about who should pay for the investment.

In China, making sure that the right equipment is being installed is going to be critical going forward in monitoring loads, improving efficiency, and reducing energy consumption, and this Shanghai Daily report offers some hope that the government is willing to do what it can to promote the increased investment in the equipment:

SHANGHAI government announced yesterday that it would improve incentives for local factories and businesses that install an energy-saving power generation system inside their buildings.

The system, named Distributed Generation, is based on a small gas-fueled power generation unit. Operators build these units on site, rather than take power from the national grid, which is powered by coal-fired power stations, usually located far away from power users.

For those who invest in the equipment, the returns could be significant in the long term:

the Distributed Generation system ensures a low rate of wastage and could improve usage efficiency to up to 89 percent.

but.. for those who cannot wait a month… the government is willing to pay upfront:

Building owners will be paid 1,000 yuan (US$146) for each kilowatt of capacity their generator has.

win-win all around so far.

The only real question is whether or not they will install the equipment.

December 7, 2008

China and US sign Energy and Environment deals

Filed under: Policies and Issues — Tags: — Rich @ 9:50 am
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December 3, 2008

Beijing Meets 2008 Clear Sky Deadline a Month Early

Filed under: Policies and Issues — Tags: , , — Rich @ 5:53 am

In yet another example of just how anything is possible in China (especially when you close factories by the dozens), the good folks in Biejing have announced that they have meet their 2008 blue sky air targets a month early.

As part of the clean air program, the authorities shifted most of the high-polluting plants, including that of steel giant Shougang Group, out of the city, and replaced them with green facilities. Stricter fuel emission rules, too, were implemented, with gas stations revamped to curb petroleum vaporization.

Beijing will launch tougher air cleaning programs from January 1 by shifting more coal-burning industries out of the city and banning heavy polluting cars.

For me, I am curious to see what next year will look like as Beijing took some extreme measures in clearing out the air in the months prior to the Olympics… and it involved shutting down plants and removing vehicles from surrounding provinces.

To keep that up would inevitably prove difficult, something we are already seeing difficulties even with in the capital

November 17, 2008

China’s Strategic Priorities in International Climate Change Negotiations

Filed under: Policies and Issues — Tags: , , , — Rich @ 12:22 am

Written by Joanna  Lewis, China’s Strategic Priorities in International Climate Change Negotiations, is a very interesting report on the drivers behind China’s energy consumption, the areas that they are looking to reduce energy intensity, and what this means for the rest of us.

The paper does a nice job of presenting the history of the Central Party’s actions to address environmental issues, and the complex structure of agencies that oversee these issues…

The three major focus areas that will guide improvements, as presented in the paper, are:

  • energy efficiency
  • renewable energy
  • Industrial policies

Note: Perhaps missing would be consumer awareness and consumption?

to read the full report, you can download the PDF here.

November 8, 2008

Water Pollution Emergencies In China

Filed under: Greener Tech, Policies and Issues — Tags: , , , — Rich @ 10:47 pm

For me, there are few issues more important than water in China.  It is a resource that is becoming scarce in the North, and for many, its contamination is an issue that threatens economic security and health.

to that end, I want to highlight the recently released World Bank report Water Pollution Emergencies In China, prevention and response (PDF Download here):

The purpose of this paper is to provide policy recommendations to assist the Government of China in improving environmental emergency prevention and response in the high risk industrial sector.

With each disaster ( Wuxi algae blooms, Qingdao blooms, Haierbin spills, and dozens of others), the pressure mounts on the central party to address the downside of hyperdevelopment… and to clean up.

to assist them in this, the WB report makes the following recomendations:

1) To Improve the Legislative and Regulatory Framework.
2) Improve Organizational Arrangements and Strengthen Coordination
3) To Establish Mechanisms for Incentives and Liabilities.
4) To Provide Funds through Proper Channels.
5) Strengthen Risk Assessment, Management and Planning.
6) To Improve Chemical Information Management.
7) To Build the Capacity of First Response.
8) To Strengthen Monitoring, Timely Reporting and Disclosure of Emergency Situations.
9) To Cleanup Pollutants Rapidly and Mitigate Impacts.
10) To Undertake Incident Investigation and Draw and Share Experiences/Lessons

Where I think these recommendations fall short, and recommendations I would make are:

1) Develop relationships and clear channels with environmental NGOs who would identify polluters and document damage in a non-confrontational manner

2) Promote environmental education and awareness programs within the educational system, and invest in ongoing public campaigns that heighten public awareness of the issues and how they themselves can improve conditions.

3) Begin tying the issues of water pollution to health through food quality, water quality, etc and through this foster consumer pressure on companies to improve their standards.

4) Get them early before they develop bad habits

October 24, 2008

UN Report On China’s Infrastructure for Food Safety

Filed under: Policies and Issues, Uncategorized — Tags: , , — Rich @ 7:19 pm

Following my post last week, the UN released the 30 page report Advancing Food Safety in China. PDF Here

Primarily written in response to, and as a study of, the recent milk contamination cases, this paper is an excellent guide for those who are looking to understand more about the regulatory environment, the agencies, and the processes that monitor food quality and addresses problems that arise.

With the highline being: China has made a lot of progress over the last 5 years, but it still has a long way to go, the authors have taken a very logical approach:

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