China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, was set Tuesday to launch its first carbon trading scheme aimed at reducing emissions, state-media said. A platform allowing businesses in the southern city of Shenzhen to trade permits to emit carbon was established on Sunday, with trading due to start on Tuesday, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. China plans to open similar schemes in seven areas before 2014, in what analysts say is a step towards a [...]
Reported by Raw Story 7 hours ago.
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China launches national carbon trading program
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China's Top Milk Producer Bulks Up
China Mengniu Dairy is buying a majority stake in smaller rival Yashili in an effort to bulk up its stake in China's scandal-tainted dairy sector.
Reported by Wall Street Journal 3 hours ago.
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If China is to realise its urban dream, it should drop the Los Angeles model | Isabel Hilton
China's urbanisation is the biggest and fastest social movement in human history – but it involves unsustainably sprawling cities
Chairman Mao would have hated it: he believed in keeping peasants in the countryside, toiling to produce food and to finance industrial development. Now, after nearly two decades of rapid urbanisation, China's official and unofficial city dwellers outnumber its farmers and more will have to move. By 2025 the government wants 70% of its people to live in towns. To achieve this, 250 million people will have to move in the next 12 years.
Overall, China's urbanisation counts as the biggest and fastest social movement in human history, but many questions hang over a plan that is turning Chinese society on its head. Some of them revolve around money. One legacy of Mao Zedong's version of social engineering is the hukou, a permit held by every Chinese citizen that determines where he or she is domiciled. In Mao's day, the hukou tied peasants to the land. Today, it locks migrant workers into a disadvantaged underclass, allowed to work in cities but not to enjoy the right of residence that would give them access to health or education.
This system gives the cities the benefit of cheap migrant labour without any of the associated costs, but it is widely recognised as unfair and in urgent need of reform. It makes for a precarious life for migrant workers, who often leave parents and children behind on the land – their only security – while they work in town for the cash wages that farming denies them. If China's new city dwellers are to become the consuming middle classes that China needs for its next stage of development, they will need the same privileges as existing urbanites, but who will pay for the new schools and hospitals?
Most of China's local towns and cities have little in the way of tax revenue: they have financed themselves in recent decades by seizing land from the farmers – one of the main causes of social unrest in the countryside – and developing it for commercial use, financing the development with debt secured against inflated property values. The true scale of these debts is worryingly unclear, but there is little argument that further urbanisation will depend on the reform of local government finance. That will most likely result in an urban property tax, a development that the new property-owning middle classes are not likely to welcome.
This model of financing has created other problems: it has swallowed up precious farmland and created sprawling cities whose inhabitants depend on cars and buses to get around. This means long commutes for workers and rapidly climbing carbon emissions, as well as the choking pollution and congestion that bedevils most Chinese cities. Planners have neglected essential urban infrastructure and many of China's major cities lack such basics as adequate sewerage systems. The design of China's cities has become an important obstacle to the effort to contain China's soaring contribution to climate change. If China is to become the kind of sustainable society envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan, it would be wise to stop building Chinese versions of Los Angeles and copy Copenhagen instead.
If China does reach its urbanisation target, it will be a very different society in just 12 years. Few societies have undergone such rapid upheaval without consequences and the impacts in China will extend beyond the short-term social and economic shifts. In the past five years, China's urban middle classes have been willing to take to the streets in large numbers when they feel their interests are threatened, be it by unwelcome industrial development too close to their newly acquired property, or to challenge corrupt or inept local planning.
The security forces generally deal harshly with protests in the countryside, but the government treats city dwellers with more circumspection. Their demands for clean air and safe water, and for protection against noxious chemical plants, have spilled over into complaints about lack of accountability and transparency in government and insistence on more share in decision making. At every level, the government has been forced into concessions. In some residential developments, citizens have formed democratically elected committees that begin by regulating life within the development, but often go on to make demands of their political leaders.
China's rulers can see the economic benefits of becoming an urban society. The political results may be less welcome. Reported by guardian.co.uk 6 hours ago.
Chairman Mao would have hated it: he believed in keeping peasants in the countryside, toiling to produce food and to finance industrial development. Now, after nearly two decades of rapid urbanisation, China's official and unofficial city dwellers outnumber its farmers and more will have to move. By 2025 the government wants 70% of its people to live in towns. To achieve this, 250 million people will have to move in the next 12 years.
Overall, China's urbanisation counts as the biggest and fastest social movement in human history, but many questions hang over a plan that is turning Chinese society on its head. Some of them revolve around money. One legacy of Mao Zedong's version of social engineering is the hukou, a permit held by every Chinese citizen that determines where he or she is domiciled. In Mao's day, the hukou tied peasants to the land. Today, it locks migrant workers into a disadvantaged underclass, allowed to work in cities but not to enjoy the right of residence that would give them access to health or education.
This system gives the cities the benefit of cheap migrant labour without any of the associated costs, but it is widely recognised as unfair and in urgent need of reform. It makes for a precarious life for migrant workers, who often leave parents and children behind on the land – their only security – while they work in town for the cash wages that farming denies them. If China's new city dwellers are to become the consuming middle classes that China needs for its next stage of development, they will need the same privileges as existing urbanites, but who will pay for the new schools and hospitals?
Most of China's local towns and cities have little in the way of tax revenue: they have financed themselves in recent decades by seizing land from the farmers – one of the main causes of social unrest in the countryside – and developing it for commercial use, financing the development with debt secured against inflated property values. The true scale of these debts is worryingly unclear, but there is little argument that further urbanisation will depend on the reform of local government finance. That will most likely result in an urban property tax, a development that the new property-owning middle classes are not likely to welcome.
This model of financing has created other problems: it has swallowed up precious farmland and created sprawling cities whose inhabitants depend on cars and buses to get around. This means long commutes for workers and rapidly climbing carbon emissions, as well as the choking pollution and congestion that bedevils most Chinese cities. Planners have neglected essential urban infrastructure and many of China's major cities lack such basics as adequate sewerage systems. The design of China's cities has become an important obstacle to the effort to contain China's soaring contribution to climate change. If China is to become the kind of sustainable society envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan, it would be wise to stop building Chinese versions of Los Angeles and copy Copenhagen instead.
If China does reach its urbanisation target, it will be a very different society in just 12 years. Few societies have undergone such rapid upheaval without consequences and the impacts in China will extend beyond the short-term social and economic shifts. In the past five years, China's urban middle classes have been willing to take to the streets in large numbers when they feel their interests are threatened, be it by unwelcome industrial development too close to their newly acquired property, or to challenge corrupt or inept local planning.
The security forces generally deal harshly with protests in the countryside, but the government treats city dwellers with more circumspection. Their demands for clean air and safe water, and for protection against noxious chemical plants, have spilled over into complaints about lack of accountability and transparency in government and insistence on more share in decision making. At every level, the government has been forced into concessions. In some residential developments, citizens have formed democratically elected committees that begin by regulating life within the development, but often go on to make demands of their political leaders.
China's rulers can see the economic benefits of becoming an urban society. The political results may be less welcome. Reported by guardian.co.uk 6 hours ago.
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RAPS Opens Offices in Singapore and China
Singapore and China offices position RAPS to better respond to the needs of the rapidly developing regulatory community in Asia.
Rockville, MD, USA (PRWEB) June 18, 2013
The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) today announced the opening of two new offices in Asia—one in Singapore and one in Shanghai, China. The office in Singapore will serve as RAPS’ Pan-Asia office, serving the Asia Pacific region, and the Shanghai office will be more focused on audiences within China.
The announcement comes just a few months after RAPS announced its partnership with five Singapore government agencies to develop and implement a new medical device regulatory affairs training program in Singapore.
“RAPS’ presence in Asia has been expanding through several partnerships we have forged with regulators, agencies, companies and individual professionals throughout the region,” said RAPS Executive Director Sherry Keramidas, PhD, FASAE, CAE. “These two offices will allow us to support further development of our professional relationships and better position RAPS to respond to the needs of the regulatory community in Asia.”
As the region’s life sciences industry has grown, so too has the need for regulatory expertise.
“It is indeed timely for the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society to extend its outreach to Asia, and in particular to Singapore and China,” said Christina Lim, senior director of the Singapore Health Sciences Authority’s HSA Academy. “Asia is one of the fastest growing regions for healthcare providers today, and RAPS’ presence and support will be a great encouragement to healthcare professionals to increase their knowledge and expertise.”
“The rapid growth of the Chinese healthcare market is challenging the development of regulatory affairs and supervision. RAPS’ international experience in offering continuing education to regulatory affairs professionals brings great value to China,” said Yan Liang, senior advisor of international and legal affairs, Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration Research Center. “Furthermore, RAPS’ active presence in China will advance senior regulatory professionals through global networking.”
Susan Tan serves as director of the Asia Pacific office, 20 Bendeemer Road, #04-02 Cyberhub, Singapore 339914, Singapore. Florence Chua is the director of the China office, 2302 Wise Logic International Center, 66 North Shan Xi Road, Shanghai 200041, P.R. China. Media inquiries should be directed to Zachary Brousseau, senior manager, communications, RAPS.
About RAPS
The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) is the largest global organization of and for those involved with the regulation of healthcare and related products, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biologics and nutritional products. Founded in 1976, RAPS helped establish the regulatory profession and continues to actively support the professional and lead the profession as a neutral, non-lobbying nonprofit organization. RAPS offers education and training, professional standards, publications, research, knowledge sharing, networking, career development opportunities and other valuable resources, including Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC), the only post-academic professional credential to recognize regulatory excellence. RAPS is headquartered in suburban Washington, DC, with offices in Europe and Asia, and chapters and affiliates worldwide. RAPS.org Reported by PRWeb 6 hours ago.
Rockville, MD, USA (PRWEB) June 18, 2013
The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) today announced the opening of two new offices in Asia—one in Singapore and one in Shanghai, China. The office in Singapore will serve as RAPS’ Pan-Asia office, serving the Asia Pacific region, and the Shanghai office will be more focused on audiences within China.
The announcement comes just a few months after RAPS announced its partnership with five Singapore government agencies to develop and implement a new medical device regulatory affairs training program in Singapore.
“RAPS’ presence in Asia has been expanding through several partnerships we have forged with regulators, agencies, companies and individual professionals throughout the region,” said RAPS Executive Director Sherry Keramidas, PhD, FASAE, CAE. “These two offices will allow us to support further development of our professional relationships and better position RAPS to respond to the needs of the regulatory community in Asia.”
As the region’s life sciences industry has grown, so too has the need for regulatory expertise.
“It is indeed timely for the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society to extend its outreach to Asia, and in particular to Singapore and China,” said Christina Lim, senior director of the Singapore Health Sciences Authority’s HSA Academy. “Asia is one of the fastest growing regions for healthcare providers today, and RAPS’ presence and support will be a great encouragement to healthcare professionals to increase their knowledge and expertise.”
“The rapid growth of the Chinese healthcare market is challenging the development of regulatory affairs and supervision. RAPS’ international experience in offering continuing education to regulatory affairs professionals brings great value to China,” said Yan Liang, senior advisor of international and legal affairs, Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration Research Center. “Furthermore, RAPS’ active presence in China will advance senior regulatory professionals through global networking.”
Susan Tan serves as director of the Asia Pacific office, 20 Bendeemer Road, #04-02 Cyberhub, Singapore 339914, Singapore. Florence Chua is the director of the China office, 2302 Wise Logic International Center, 66 North Shan Xi Road, Shanghai 200041, P.R. China. Media inquiries should be directed to Zachary Brousseau, senior manager, communications, RAPS.
About RAPS
The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) is the largest global organization of and for those involved with the regulation of healthcare and related products, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biologics and nutritional products. Founded in 1976, RAPS helped establish the regulatory profession and continues to actively support the professional and lead the profession as a neutral, non-lobbying nonprofit organization. RAPS offers education and training, professional standards, publications, research, knowledge sharing, networking, career development opportunities and other valuable resources, including Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC), the only post-academic professional credential to recognize regulatory excellence. RAPS is headquartered in suburban Washington, DC, with offices in Europe and Asia, and chapters and affiliates worldwide. RAPS.org Reported by PRWeb 6 hours ago.
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US Pressure on China Over Hacking to Remain
Analysts say the recent leaks exposing top-secret U.S. surveillance programs may benefit China temporarily, but will not likely sway Washington from putting more pressure on Beijing to stop alleged Chinese cyber hacking against U.S. targets. The leaks by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden came at an opportune time for China, just before U.S. President Barack Obama planned to prominently raise the issue of Chinese cyber hacking during a summit in California. The original ...
Reported by VOA News 5 hours ago.
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Rupert Murdoch's Split: Divorcing Wendi, China Or Both?
It's been relatively quiet in China these last few days due to the Dragon Boat holiday, so I thought I'd start the new week with a look at Rupert Murdoch's ongoing divorce with Wendi Deng and what it might mean for his flagship New Corp (Nasdaq: NWSA) in China. Many believe that Deng, a China native, was one of the main forces behind Murdoch's previous bullishness on China, leading News Corp aggressively try to develop the market in the decade from 2000 to 2010. But the company has sharply reversed its China approach over the last 3 years, perhaps reflecting the deteriorating marriage between Murdoch and Deng.
Reported by Forbes.com 5 hours ago.
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Bus plunges off road in China, 11 dead
BEIJING (AP) - A bus carrying 35 people plunged into a valley in western China on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, state media reported. The accident happened Tuesday afternoon when the bus was traveling to a tourist spot near Changji city in the region of Xinjiang, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. A Changji police official, who only gave his surname, Ma, confirmed that the accident occurred but didnt have any information about casualties. Road accidents are common in China because of poor road conditions and bad driving habits. (Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
Reported by MyNorthwest.com 6 hours ago.
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China and U.S. academic freedom
The Chinese legal advocate Chen Guangcheng, facing the end of his fellowship at New York University, has claimed that NYU is forcing him out due to Chinese pressure. NYU's participation in a complex deal to allow Chen to leave China to study gave the dissident and his family breathing space, and helped the United States and China untangle a thorny diplomatic dilemma after Chen fled to the U.S. embassy in Beijing in April 2012. NYU in fact did a great favor not only for Chen but also for both the U.S. and Chinese governments.
Reported by CNN.com 5 hours ago.
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Settle for Best PR Agency in China to Make Maximum Impact
Your desire to win the game requires you to employ the best players. In the context of impact making public relation strategy formulation, you are certain to feel the same requirement, especially while planning to establish your footprint in China.
The job responsibility for public relation executives has experienced a roller coaster changeover these days. Just making mere intimations through print or electronic Medias about the latest ventures to be launched by the company, or calling journalists to inform about the news that the company has received a prestigious business award will not bring much of benefits anymore. For the companies willing to start up a venture in a new territory like China, this requirement is even more stringent. Had it been any other western country, things would have been more or less the same. But this East Asian country deserves a specialized treatment, as far as formulation of public relation strategies is concerned. Nothing but the best PR agency in China will meet that requirement, just like DT Communications did for its clients.
It’s the expertise in understanding the pulse of new age Chinese population that makes the difference. Chinese territory will offer you some unique features and characteristics; at on e end they are still very much conservative to maintain their ancient Confucian philosophy and ethical values while setting up a business relation with a foreign entity. On the other, there comes robust economic growth that Chinese economy is marinating since last few years, and obviously that achievement has exposed them before western cultures. This blend is a typical one for the Chinese population, and DT communication has shown brilliance in formulating a PR strategy that relates with the pulse of the audience best.
Efficacy wise, this public relation agency in China has a string of success stories to narrate. The grand opening of Forever 21’s first ever business outlet in China was sufficient to grab many eyeballs and its acquisition with Blue Focus Communication Group, a heavyweight entity listed with Shenzhen Stock Exchange is enough to establish its credibility and hold over the Chinese market. Its service mix includes everything that is crucial in the current business scenario, and the investors can ride on its highly acclaimed corporate communication, digital media marketing, and expertise over the Asian market, capability to handle event organization and production responsibilities and so forth.
Company Contact Information
Blue Focus Communication Group
DT Asia
78 Hung To Road, Kowloon, HKSAR
Unit B, 7/F
(852) 3696 6999
News and Press Release Distribution From I-Newswire.com Reported by i-Newswire.com 5 hours ago.
The job responsibility for public relation executives has experienced a roller coaster changeover these days. Just making mere intimations through print or electronic Medias about the latest ventures to be launched by the company, or calling journalists to inform about the news that the company has received a prestigious business award will not bring much of benefits anymore. For the companies willing to start up a venture in a new territory like China, this requirement is even more stringent. Had it been any other western country, things would have been more or less the same. But this East Asian country deserves a specialized treatment, as far as formulation of public relation strategies is concerned. Nothing but the best PR agency in China will meet that requirement, just like DT Communications did for its clients.
It’s the expertise in understanding the pulse of new age Chinese population that makes the difference. Chinese territory will offer you some unique features and characteristics; at on e end they are still very much conservative to maintain their ancient Confucian philosophy and ethical values while setting up a business relation with a foreign entity. On the other, there comes robust economic growth that Chinese economy is marinating since last few years, and obviously that achievement has exposed them before western cultures. This blend is a typical one for the Chinese population, and DT communication has shown brilliance in formulating a PR strategy that relates with the pulse of the audience best.
Efficacy wise, this public relation agency in China has a string of success stories to narrate. The grand opening of Forever 21’s first ever business outlet in China was sufficient to grab many eyeballs and its acquisition with Blue Focus Communication Group, a heavyweight entity listed with Shenzhen Stock Exchange is enough to establish its credibility and hold over the Chinese market. Its service mix includes everything that is crucial in the current business scenario, and the investors can ride on its highly acclaimed corporate communication, digital media marketing, and expertise over the Asian market, capability to handle event organization and production responsibilities and so forth.
Company Contact Information
Blue Focus Communication Group
DT Asia
78 Hung To Road, Kowloon, HKSAR
Unit B, 7/F
(852) 3696 6999
News and Press Release Distribution From I-Newswire.com Reported by i-Newswire.com 5 hours ago.
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In China, The Difference In Unemployment And Wages Between Those Who Do And Don't Have College Degrees Is Massive
In the U.S., it's no secret that the unemployment rate for college grads is lower than that of those without college degrees.
The same goes for China.
Standard Chartered's Stephen Green presents them in his research note to clients.
"Southwestern University‟s survey last year of employment by education suggests that graduates have one of the lowest unemployment rates and highest wage levels (Figures 10 and 11), even if it takes some time for them to find work," notes Green.
Here's a break down of unemployment rates by education in China:
And here are wages:
*SEE ALSO: The Surprising Results Of China's Massive Wealth Survey >*
Join the conversation about this story »
Reported by Business Insider 4 hours ago.
The same goes for China.
Standard Chartered's Stephen Green presents them in his research note to clients.
"Southwestern University‟s survey last year of employment by education suggests that graduates have one of the lowest unemployment rates and highest wage levels (Figures 10 and 11), even if it takes some time for them to find work," notes Green.
Here's a break down of unemployment rates by education in China:
And here are wages:
*SEE ALSO: The Surprising Results Of China's Massive Wealth Survey >*
Join the conversation about this story »
Reported by Business Insider 4 hours ago.
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'Anti-pervert' hairy leggings all the rage in China
Hairy leggings meant to keep unwanted male attention at bay are all the rage among girls in China.
That's right. Leggings covered in hair.
"Super sexy, summertime anti-pervert full-leg-of-hair stockings, essential for all young girls going out," @HappyZhangJiang wrote in describing the item on China's popular microblogging service, Sina Weibo.
It's hard to say whether the hairy leggings are synthetic Sasquatch or real human hair, but one thing's for sure: they're bound to repel just about anyone in sight.
A cheaper alternative, of course, is just not shaving your legs, girls. Reported by Click Orlando 4 hours ago.
That's right. Leggings covered in hair.
"Super sexy, summertime anti-pervert full-leg-of-hair stockings, essential for all young girls going out," @HappyZhangJiang wrote in describing the item on China's popular microblogging service, Sina Weibo.
It's hard to say whether the hairy leggings are synthetic Sasquatch or real human hair, but one thing's for sure: they're bound to repel just about anyone in sight.
A cheaper alternative, of course, is just not shaving your legs, girls. Reported by Click Orlando 4 hours ago.
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Peggy Liu: If Trash Is Gold, China Is Very Rich
Twice a day, Beijing's Chaoyang Circular Economy Industrial Park hosts a showcase waste site in Gaoantun. Benches and trees give the site a park-like feel. Citizens are invited to tour -- and smell -- the facility.
Meanwhile, a model landfill in Hangzhou attracts tens of thousands of tourists with a "trash tour" of its trash-to-gas power plant, environmental video games and an eco-park the size of 10 football fields that sits on a mountain of trash generated by the city's 3 million residents more than a decade ago.
JUCCCE 2011 Mayoral Training on municipal solid waste.
Waste management was the "It girl" in 2011 for sustainability issues for the Chinese government. That year, my organization JUCCCE conducted a 7-day training course for 50 Chinese mayors on municipal waste treatment.
Why is trash generating all this interest in China?
The answer is simple: waste is a huge and growing problem in China that is overwhelming cities.
*JUST HOW BIG IS CHINA'S WASTE PROBLEM?
*
In 2012, Beijing had a population of 21 million, and produced 17,400 tons of solid waste per day. Seventy percent of this waste was simply buried. This is like burying over 6,000 mid-sized cars (by weight) every single day in one city alone. By 2030, China is predicted by the World Bank to produce 480 million tons of solid waste each year. That's the equivalent of throwing away about 60 million yellow school buses every year. Even though the current numbers are staggeringly high, there does not seem to be a slowdown of waste generation.
These numbers don't even include 8 million tons of electronic waste that is smuggled into China each year and cause carcinogenic pollutants to seep into soil and groundwater. According to China Business News, the final destination of around 70 percent of the world's annual 500 million tons of e-waste is China.
Of course, there are a lot of other types of waste, in addition to the solid waste you see in landfill. There's sewage sludge, agricultural waste, emissions, marine waste, liquid waste, heat waste and more. China frankly has not addressed any of these adequately.
*WHERE IS ALL THIS SOLID WASTE GOING?
*
In 2010, China only had 919 licensed landfills that have passed environmental inspections, compared to more than 2,000 total landfills in the UK.
Much of China's trash is illegally dumped in unofficial landfills and heaps that are not operated properly and leak pollutants into the ground, water and air. The stench from rotting garbage is also nauseating.
The Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment has vowed to address 250 of the landfills that are illegally operated. This type of treatment will be resource intensive: trash has to be dug up and incinerated; the bottoms of landfills need to be lined to prevent leakage; poisonous methane gas must be captured. By 2015, Beijing aims to cut the share of landfills from 70 percent to less than 30 percent of the total waste stream. Waste generated in the future will be sent to 40 newly built incineration plants, food waste facilities and other kinds of waste handling facilities.
*WET FOOD WASTE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST CHALLENGES
*
In Mainland China, up to 70 percent of landfill is wet food waste. This is problematic because food decomposition is a huge producer of methane in landfills. As a comparison, the percentage of organic waste is 23 percent in the US, 25 percent in France, and 37 percent in Denmark.
The water content makes wet food waste difficult to incinerate with current technologies. In addition, Asian food is often covered in cooking oil that creates a barrier to decomposition. Separating compostable food waste is not a common practice among kitchens. As a result, most of the food waste is going to landfill unnecessarily.
Without a proper channel of food waste disposal, much of the waste gets fed to pigs, which causes people to fear that cannibalism might create disease. In fact, Britain blamed Europe's foot-and-mouth epidemic on contaminated meat that was fed to hogs there. Another area of public concern is that oil and grease in the food waste are often illegally collected and sold back to the restaurants, and therefore eventually, to the customers.
China is currently ill-equipped to build their goal of 109 food waste handling plants nationwide before 2016.
*WHERE CAN CHINA LEARN FROM?*
We want to move towards a method of waste collection that requires people to prepay for collection by buying official waste collection bags of different types at the nearest convenience store. In Tokyo, Taipei and Seoul this has proven to reduce waste volume dramatically as well as increase recycling volume.
In Singapore, a new technology called PIGS or Prodigy Intelligent Gas System is turning kitchen waste into gas for cooking and fertilizer. It's an old technology that is commonly used in places like Sweden, but is now being adapted to urban areas such as Thailand's famous floating market.
My recent visit to the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation recycling centers in Taiwan impressed me with their large populations of elderly and mentally disabled regaining a sense of life purpose and community by volunteering to recycle each day. The plastic is turned into blankets for disaster relief victims and clothing sold for charity.
Top Left: Prepaid Waste Collection Bags in Taiwan. Top Right: A local resident putting food waste in to the PIGS cabinet.
Bottom: A woman sorting the garbage in Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation.
Ultimately, waste is not going to be solved solely by technology. We need to fix a behavior problem. As China's population grows and its consumers have more disposable income, we need to reduce the amount each person is throwing into the trash; we need to rethink our straight-into-trash purchasing mentality; and we need to respect waste as a valuable resource that we can reuse. Reported by Huffington Post 5 hours ago.
Meanwhile, a model landfill in Hangzhou attracts tens of thousands of tourists with a "trash tour" of its trash-to-gas power plant, environmental video games and an eco-park the size of 10 football fields that sits on a mountain of trash generated by the city's 3 million residents more than a decade ago.
JUCCCE 2011 Mayoral Training on municipal solid waste.
Waste management was the "It girl" in 2011 for sustainability issues for the Chinese government. That year, my organization JUCCCE conducted a 7-day training course for 50 Chinese mayors on municipal waste treatment.
Why is trash generating all this interest in China?
The answer is simple: waste is a huge and growing problem in China that is overwhelming cities.
*JUST HOW BIG IS CHINA'S WASTE PROBLEM?
*
In 2012, Beijing had a population of 21 million, and produced 17,400 tons of solid waste per day. Seventy percent of this waste was simply buried. This is like burying over 6,000 mid-sized cars (by weight) every single day in one city alone. By 2030, China is predicted by the World Bank to produce 480 million tons of solid waste each year. That's the equivalent of throwing away about 60 million yellow school buses every year. Even though the current numbers are staggeringly high, there does not seem to be a slowdown of waste generation.
These numbers don't even include 8 million tons of electronic waste that is smuggled into China each year and cause carcinogenic pollutants to seep into soil and groundwater. According to China Business News, the final destination of around 70 percent of the world's annual 500 million tons of e-waste is China.
Of course, there are a lot of other types of waste, in addition to the solid waste you see in landfill. There's sewage sludge, agricultural waste, emissions, marine waste, liquid waste, heat waste and more. China frankly has not addressed any of these adequately.
*WHERE IS ALL THIS SOLID WASTE GOING?
*
In 2010, China only had 919 licensed landfills that have passed environmental inspections, compared to more than 2,000 total landfills in the UK.
Much of China's trash is illegally dumped in unofficial landfills and heaps that are not operated properly and leak pollutants into the ground, water and air. The stench from rotting garbage is also nauseating.
The Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment has vowed to address 250 of the landfills that are illegally operated. This type of treatment will be resource intensive: trash has to be dug up and incinerated; the bottoms of landfills need to be lined to prevent leakage; poisonous methane gas must be captured. By 2015, Beijing aims to cut the share of landfills from 70 percent to less than 30 percent of the total waste stream. Waste generated in the future will be sent to 40 newly built incineration plants, food waste facilities and other kinds of waste handling facilities.
*WET FOOD WASTE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST CHALLENGES
*
In Mainland China, up to 70 percent of landfill is wet food waste. This is problematic because food decomposition is a huge producer of methane in landfills. As a comparison, the percentage of organic waste is 23 percent in the US, 25 percent in France, and 37 percent in Denmark.
The water content makes wet food waste difficult to incinerate with current technologies. In addition, Asian food is often covered in cooking oil that creates a barrier to decomposition. Separating compostable food waste is not a common practice among kitchens. As a result, most of the food waste is going to landfill unnecessarily.
Without a proper channel of food waste disposal, much of the waste gets fed to pigs, which causes people to fear that cannibalism might create disease. In fact, Britain blamed Europe's foot-and-mouth epidemic on contaminated meat that was fed to hogs there. Another area of public concern is that oil and grease in the food waste are often illegally collected and sold back to the restaurants, and therefore eventually, to the customers.
China is currently ill-equipped to build their goal of 109 food waste handling plants nationwide before 2016.
*WHERE CAN CHINA LEARN FROM?*
We want to move towards a method of waste collection that requires people to prepay for collection by buying official waste collection bags of different types at the nearest convenience store. In Tokyo, Taipei and Seoul this has proven to reduce waste volume dramatically as well as increase recycling volume.
In Singapore, a new technology called PIGS or Prodigy Intelligent Gas System is turning kitchen waste into gas for cooking and fertilizer. It's an old technology that is commonly used in places like Sweden, but is now being adapted to urban areas such as Thailand's famous floating market.
My recent visit to the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation recycling centers in Taiwan impressed me with their large populations of elderly and mentally disabled regaining a sense of life purpose and community by volunteering to recycle each day. The plastic is turned into blankets for disaster relief victims and clothing sold for charity.
Top Left: Prepaid Waste Collection Bags in Taiwan. Top Right: A local resident putting food waste in to the PIGS cabinet.
Bottom: A woman sorting the garbage in Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation.
Ultimately, waste is not going to be solved solely by technology. We need to fix a behavior problem. As China's population grows and its consumers have more disposable income, we need to reduce the amount each person is throwing into the trash; we need to rethink our straight-into-trash purchasing mentality; and we need to respect waste as a valuable resource that we can reuse. Reported by Huffington Post 5 hours ago.
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Ford Pushes Ahead in China
Filed under: Investing
Is the Chinese economic juggernaut slowing down? Some indicators suggest that it might be, including this one: The rate of growth of new-car sales slowed last month. But that doesn't bother *Ford *, which posted another huge gain in its China sales.
What's going on? In this video, Fool.com contributor John Rosevear looks at the slowdown in China's auto market -- and at why it doesn't seem to be hurting Ford's tremendous growth pace in the country.
Ford is booming in China -- but is it the best way to ride the Chinese new-car growth wave? A recent Motley Fool report, "2 Automakers to Buy for a Surging Chinese Market", names the two global giants poised to reap big gains that could drive big rewards for investors. You can read this report right now for free -- just click here for instant access.
The article Ford Pushes Ahead in China Reported by DailyFinance 4 hours ago.
Is the Chinese economic juggernaut slowing down? Some indicators suggest that it might be, including this one: The rate of growth of new-car sales slowed last month. But that doesn't bother *Ford *, which posted another huge gain in its China sales.
What's going on? In this video, Fool.com contributor John Rosevear looks at the slowdown in China's auto market -- and at why it doesn't seem to be hurting Ford's tremendous growth pace in the country.
Ford is booming in China -- but is it the best way to ride the Chinese new-car growth wave? A recent Motley Fool report, "2 Automakers to Buy for a Surging Chinese Market", names the two global giants poised to reap big gains that could drive big rewards for investors. You can read this report right now for free -- just click here for instant access.
The article Ford Pushes Ahead in China Reported by DailyFinance 4 hours ago.
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Hairy Stockings Are China's Latest 'Anti-Pervert' Trend
During balmier months, many young women beat the heat by showing more skin in short-shorts and sundresses. But some in China are opting to do the opposite, perhaps in an attempt to fend off oglers.
A user named Happy张江 on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter equivalent, uploaded a photo of stockings designed to look like hairy man legs. The picture has since gone viral, likely due to its quirky concept.
*
SEE ALSO: Eyeball Licking: Japan's Craziest New Fetish
*
"Super sexy, summertime anti-pervert full-leg-of-hair stockings, essential for all young girls going out," the caption reads.
It is unclear whether or not the 'Anti-Pervert' stockings are available for purchase. Read more...
More about China, Pics, Sina Weibo, Watercooler, and Conversations Reported by Mashable 3 hours ago.
A user named Happy张江 on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter equivalent, uploaded a photo of stockings designed to look like hairy man legs. The picture has since gone viral, likely due to its quirky concept.
*
SEE ALSO: Eyeball Licking: Japan's Craziest New Fetish
*
"Super sexy, summertime anti-pervert full-leg-of-hair stockings, essential for all young girls going out," the caption reads.
It is unclear whether or not the 'Anti-Pervert' stockings are available for purchase. Read more...
More about China, Pics, Sina Weibo, Watercooler, and Conversations Reported by Mashable 3 hours ago.
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FIDELITY CHINA SPECIAL SITUATIONS PLC - Total Voting Rights
Fidelity China Special Situations PLC Voting Rights and Capital as at 18 June 2013. This announcement is made in accordance with DTR5.6.1. As at 18 June 2013 Fidelity China Special Situations PLC'...
Reported by FinanzNachrichten.de 3 hours ago.
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China tells the U.S. to bring home the bacon
Despite the mileage, Memphis and China have something in common — a deep love for pork. The opening of the Chinese market was supposed to be the a boon to U.S. pork exporters but earlier this year, both China and Russia banned U.S. pork imports. Right on cue, Smithfield Foods (NYSE:SFD), the largest domestic pork supplier, announced a more than 60 percent drop in net income. Smithfield Foods is a major supplier for Memphis-based Monogram Food Solutions, which makes the King Cotton brand of bacon,…
Reported by bizjournals 3 hours ago.
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Meg Whitman Has Removed Todd Bradley From HP's $13 Billion PC/Printer Group And Sent Him To China (HPQ)
Last month, HP reported that its PC revenues nosedived 20%, so maybe it's not so shocking that today Meg Whitman made some changes at the top.
Todd Bradley has stepped down from his role in leading HP's biggest unit, the $13 billion Personal Systems and Printing unit. He's taking on a new job title: executive vice president of Strategic Growth Initiatives.
Bradley is credited with turning HP's PC business into the success it was before the whole PC industry started to implode. Under his command, HP became the biggest PC vendor in the world, pushing Dell and Lenovo out of the way.
Unfortunately, HP's PC business was also fraught with missteps, like missing the entire tablet and mobile device revolution thanks to the botched $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm.
Also interesting: Bradley's change in roles comes after he was named on the list of potential candidates to become CEO of Dell, should activist investor Carl Icahn win his bid to prevent Michael Dell from taking Dell private.
With Bradley's new title, he is being tasked with building new partnerships in China. Dion Weisler, the man previously running China/Asia has been promoted to fill Bradley's old job, running the global unit. Weisler came to HP from Lenovo and was an exec at Acer before that.
Bradley could still regain his shining-star status if he succeeds at this new role. The best chance any PC industry player has to regain some luster is to capture a chunk of Asia's enormous growth potential. Nearly half of China's enormous population still isn't on on the Internet.
*SEE ALSO: By 2017, We'll Each Have 5 Internet Devices (And More Predictions From Cisco)*
Join the conversation about this story »
Reported by Business Insider 2 hours ago.
Todd Bradley has stepped down from his role in leading HP's biggest unit, the $13 billion Personal Systems and Printing unit. He's taking on a new job title: executive vice president of Strategic Growth Initiatives.
Bradley is credited with turning HP's PC business into the success it was before the whole PC industry started to implode. Under his command, HP became the biggest PC vendor in the world, pushing Dell and Lenovo out of the way.
Unfortunately, HP's PC business was also fraught with missteps, like missing the entire tablet and mobile device revolution thanks to the botched $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm.
Also interesting: Bradley's change in roles comes after he was named on the list of potential candidates to become CEO of Dell, should activist investor Carl Icahn win his bid to prevent Michael Dell from taking Dell private.
With Bradley's new title, he is being tasked with building new partnerships in China. Dion Weisler, the man previously running China/Asia has been promoted to fill Bradley's old job, running the global unit. Weisler came to HP from Lenovo and was an exec at Acer before that.
Bradley could still regain his shining-star status if he succeeds at this new role. The best chance any PC industry player has to regain some luster is to capture a chunk of Asia's enormous growth potential. Nearly half of China's enormous population still isn't on on the Internet.
*SEE ALSO: By 2017, We'll Each Have 5 Internet Devices (And More Predictions From Cisco)*
Join the conversation about this story »
Reported by Business Insider 2 hours ago.
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Volkswagen marketing chief admits company lost its way in China
Alexi Orlov says campaign with 'referral' message lifted carmaker's 'best-loved brand' ranking from 126 to 75
Volkswagen has admitted it lost its way in China, where it sells a third of its cars, saying it suffered a "terrible wake-up call" after discovering its brand reputation had plummeted in the eyes of the Chinese.
The admission was made by the German carmaker's chief marketing officer Alexi Orlov, who was speaking at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Tuesday, alongside the PepsiCo chief marketing officer Richard Lee, discussing what it takes to crack the Chinese market.
Orlov said: "Thirty years Volkswagen has spent in China. In 2012, we had to spend $1bn on marketing just on the VW brand just to stay in that market. Despite the fact that we had a record breaking 2011 we still had to spend that amount of money.
"We had an over-reliance on short-term spend and we had relied on awareness but it was not awareness we should have been worried about but effectiveness. We had a terrible wake-up call in 2010 when we discovered much to our surprise and horror that we were only the 126th best ranked in China as best-loved brands."
Volkswagen had been hit by competition both from Chinese companies and international rivals.
To reverse the decline, Volkswagen ran a campaign, called "The People's Car Project" with the central message of a "referral" which is important in Chinese culture.
Orlov said that 73% of all sales in automotive in China come from referral, compared to 24% in the US.
Central to the campaign was that it included the Chinese people in creating and sharing ideas about creating cars. Orlov said the Volkswagen brand had climbed from 126 to 75 in brand rankings, in light of the campaign.
PepsiCo's Lee said one of the problems facing marketers was that there was too much choice for customers in the market and those campaigns which told a story about humanity would be the winning campaigns. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 hours ago.
Volkswagen has admitted it lost its way in China, where it sells a third of its cars, saying it suffered a "terrible wake-up call" after discovering its brand reputation had plummeted in the eyes of the Chinese.
The admission was made by the German carmaker's chief marketing officer Alexi Orlov, who was speaking at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Tuesday, alongside the PepsiCo chief marketing officer Richard Lee, discussing what it takes to crack the Chinese market.
Orlov said: "Thirty years Volkswagen has spent in China. In 2012, we had to spend $1bn on marketing just on the VW brand just to stay in that market. Despite the fact that we had a record breaking 2011 we still had to spend that amount of money.
"We had an over-reliance on short-term spend and we had relied on awareness but it was not awareness we should have been worried about but effectiveness. We had a terrible wake-up call in 2010 when we discovered much to our surprise and horror that we were only the 126th best ranked in China as best-loved brands."
Volkswagen had been hit by competition both from Chinese companies and international rivals.
To reverse the decline, Volkswagen ran a campaign, called "The People's Car Project" with the central message of a "referral" which is important in Chinese culture.
Orlov said that 73% of all sales in automotive in China come from referral, compared to 24% in the US.
Central to the campaign was that it included the Chinese people in creating and sharing ideas about creating cars. Orlov said the Volkswagen brand had climbed from 126 to 75 in brand rankings, in light of the campaign.
PepsiCo's Lee said one of the problems facing marketers was that there was too much choice for customers in the market and those campaigns which told a story about humanity would be the winning campaigns. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 hours ago.
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Israeli-Palestinian peace talks must resume: China
*China called for a resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians at a conference in Beijing today, as the rising global power seeks greater diplomatic influence in the Middle East.*
"We need to redouble efforts to promote peace talks," assistant foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu said at the United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, an event attended by diplomats, UN delegates, academics, and figures from the Palestinian and Israeli parliaments.
"The international community should be fully aware of the importance and urgency of settling the Palestinian question and make every effort to promote the resumption of peace talks," he added, on the first day of the two-day conference.
Beijing has traditionally remained distant from Middle East affairs, although it has begun to take a more active diplomatic role in recent years, wielding its UN veto to scuttle some Western-backed proposals on Syria.
It now appears to be positioning itself closer to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, which has long been strongly influenced by Washington.
Daniel Ben-Simon, a former Israeli parliamentarian who is a member of the Labor Party, said the growing influence of Beijing within Israeli-Palestinian affairs could bring a new dimension to relations in the region.
"They (Israelis) have been listening until now to the Americans. There has been one boss in the peace process. No other country has had a word -- a strong word -- like the Americans," he told AFP on the sidelines of the conference.
"If the Chinese get involved, that will be very, very interesting because Israel and China are working together very closely economically."
Ben-Simon also said China could build on its economic interests to develop "political influence" in the region.
But he said he was unclear if Beijings key aim was to take Washingtons place at the summit table.
"That is the question. Is there competition between these two superpowers?" he said.
China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has voiced support for the Palestinian push for full state membership in the United Nations.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu made state visits to Beijing during the same week last month.
Bassam al-Salhi, a representative of Abbas, said on a visit to Beijing last November that China could play a "special role" in the Middle East. Reported by Deccan Herald 2 hours ago.
"We need to redouble efforts to promote peace talks," assistant foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu said at the United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, an event attended by diplomats, UN delegates, academics, and figures from the Palestinian and Israeli parliaments.
"The international community should be fully aware of the importance and urgency of settling the Palestinian question and make every effort to promote the resumption of peace talks," he added, on the first day of the two-day conference.
Beijing has traditionally remained distant from Middle East affairs, although it has begun to take a more active diplomatic role in recent years, wielding its UN veto to scuttle some Western-backed proposals on Syria.
It now appears to be positioning itself closer to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, which has long been strongly influenced by Washington.
Daniel Ben-Simon, a former Israeli parliamentarian who is a member of the Labor Party, said the growing influence of Beijing within Israeli-Palestinian affairs could bring a new dimension to relations in the region.
"They (Israelis) have been listening until now to the Americans. There has been one boss in the peace process. No other country has had a word -- a strong word -- like the Americans," he told AFP on the sidelines of the conference.
"If the Chinese get involved, that will be very, very interesting because Israel and China are working together very closely economically."
Ben-Simon also said China could build on its economic interests to develop "political influence" in the region.
But he said he was unclear if Beijings key aim was to take Washingtons place at the summit table.
"That is the question. Is there competition between these two superpowers?" he said.
China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has voiced support for the Palestinian push for full state membership in the United Nations.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu made state visits to Beijing during the same week last month.
Bassam al-Salhi, a representative of Abbas, said on a visit to Beijing last November that China could play a "special role" in the Middle East. Reported by Deccan Herald 2 hours ago.
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China Launches Major Emissions Program
*By Mark Nicholls:
(click here for original article)*
On June 18 China’s pioneering city of Shenzhen is set to notch up another first. From that day 635 companies in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone—which in 1979 became the vanguard for China’s capitalist revolution—will start using the markets to help meet greenhouse gas emissions targets.
This year, alongside the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing as well as the regions of Guangdong and Hubei, Shenzhen is imposing greenhouse gas targets on hundreds of companies, ranging from power plants to airport operators. The goal is to develop a national carbon market over the next decade that could help put the brakes on the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter.
“China has internationally pledged 2020 climate targets,” observes Chai Hongliang, an analyst at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, an Oslo-based information-provider specializing in carbon markets. He is referring to a commitment first made by China ahead of the 2009 Copenhagen climate talks to reduce its economy’s overall carbon emissions per unit of GDP to 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. “It has two ways to reach the target: shut down factories in the last months of 2020 or use more market-based approaches like emissions trading,” Chai adds.
As with emission-trading programs elsewhere, polluters in China’s pilots have two options: First, they can meet their targets by reducing their own emissions—by investing in energy efficiency, say, or curbing production. Alternatively, they can buy carbon allowances or credits from companies that have spare allowances or from projects elsewhere in China.
Shenzhen faces the toughest target. The companies in its pilot emitted the equivalent of 31 million metric tons (Mt) of CO2 in 2010. They will be allocated around 100 Mt of allowances for the duration of the three-year trial, although expected economic growth means they will have to reduce their carbon intensity by an estimated 30 percent by 2015 compared with 2010.
Balancing the need for economic growth with carbon control is a challenge. Emissions in China are expected to rise for years, given the importance China’s political elite continue to place on economic growth. Some observers question how much pressure China’s planners are prepared to put on its big emitters. The pilots set emission limits from January 2013 through the end of 2015. “I think the emissions caps will be relatively lenient,” Chai says.
Certainly the regulators will be eager to avoid any “carbon leakage”—that is, driving industry out of their jurisdictions through imposing too stringent targets ahead of any national program. But at this point Chai can only speculate about their stringency. Limited information is available about participating companies, their historical emissions—and even the rules under which the pilots will operate. And part of the reason is that some of these data do not exist.
*The problem with data*
To run effectively markets rely on an unimpeded flow of information, clear rules and rigorous oversight. China could both benefit from the lessons of earlier efforts, such as Europe’s flagship carbon market—the world’s largest, known as the European Union Emissions Trading System, or ETS. It is under fire from some environmentalists because of its relatively lax targets and low carbon prices, along with its vulnerability to fraud and abuse.
For the regulators drawing up targets, “there are existing processes and mechanisms on energy consumption which could be drawn on, as well as local exercises in creating GHG [greenhouse gas] inventories,” says Lina Li, a Beijing-based carbon markets expert at Netherlands-based consultancy Ecofys. Her firm has advised local regulators and international donors on creating carbon market regulations and infrastructure in China. “But there are still challenges regarding emissions data at the company level.”
This is exactly where the E.U. was in 2005, when it embarked on the pilot phase of its ETS—and the lack of emissions data allowed companies to game the system. E.U. governments asked companies to provide their own, unverified historical emissions data, and many inflated their numbers so as to claim more free allowances from government. This practice created an overhang of surplus permits that led to a price collapse in 2007.
Generous allocations of allowances are probably inevitable as the price paid for industry acceptance, however, suggests Karl Upston-Hooper, legal counsel of GreenStream Network, a Finnish carbon asset manager that is active in China. “You will struggle to find an ETS that is not overallocated” in its early phases, he says. Indeed, he argues that the pilots in China are less about creating carbon markets and more about gathering data. “I’ve taken the view that they’re implementing an emissions-monitoring system, not a carbon market—and I’m okay with that as a first step on the road.”
Most observers—including from the environmental movement—are prepared to give China’s regulators time to get things right. “It is our view that the first step for Chinese ETS is to get the system right from the beginning—the trading platform; the monitoring, reporting and verification system; [emissions] inventories; getting companies informed and cooperative—and gradually shift toward more stringent caps,” says Li Shuo, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace East Asia. Plenty of studies see China’s emissions peaking by 2030. Some are more optimistic: recent ones predict 2025 to 2030.
A further data challenge is whether China’s regulators will be sufficiently transparent and even-handed when it comes to the country’s carbon markets. “In Europe and elsewhere, ETS data are under public scrutiny. That may not be the case in China,” says Point Carbon’s Chai.
Another concern is insufficient coordination among the seven pilots, Li says. Indeed, rivalry exists among the various authorities, with Beijing deliberately encouraging a degree of “policy competition” to test differing approaches to see which works best.
Last, despite a recent announcement by the powerful National Development and Reform and Commission (NDRC) that it is to propose a national carbon cap for China’s next five-year plan, which runs from 2016 to 2020, a national Chinese carbon market is not assured. Other methods could prove more effective. “In China the ETS is not the only tool,” says Wu Changhua, Beijing-based Greater China director of the nonprofit Climate Group. She notes that the nation’s finance ministry is promoting a carbon tax whereas other government ministries are considering a system for crediting and trading energy-efficiency improvements.
Wu also cautions that international media speculation around the introduction of a national carbon cap by 2016 is overblown. She argues that the NDRC is agitating for the inclusion of the concept in the next plan to ensure resources are available for more research and policy development. “One thing is for sure,” she adds. “The political leadership in China is much more serious, stronger and determined to tackle environmental problems. But it will be a journey. We’re not going to get there immediately.” Reported by Huffington Post 2 hours ago.
(click here for original article)*
On June 18 China’s pioneering city of Shenzhen is set to notch up another first. From that day 635 companies in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone—which in 1979 became the vanguard for China’s capitalist revolution—will start using the markets to help meet greenhouse gas emissions targets.
This year, alongside the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing as well as the regions of Guangdong and Hubei, Shenzhen is imposing greenhouse gas targets on hundreds of companies, ranging from power plants to airport operators. The goal is to develop a national carbon market over the next decade that could help put the brakes on the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter.
“China has internationally pledged 2020 climate targets,” observes Chai Hongliang, an analyst at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, an Oslo-based information-provider specializing in carbon markets. He is referring to a commitment first made by China ahead of the 2009 Copenhagen climate talks to reduce its economy’s overall carbon emissions per unit of GDP to 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. “It has two ways to reach the target: shut down factories in the last months of 2020 or use more market-based approaches like emissions trading,” Chai adds.
As with emission-trading programs elsewhere, polluters in China’s pilots have two options: First, they can meet their targets by reducing their own emissions—by investing in energy efficiency, say, or curbing production. Alternatively, they can buy carbon allowances or credits from companies that have spare allowances or from projects elsewhere in China.
Shenzhen faces the toughest target. The companies in its pilot emitted the equivalent of 31 million metric tons (Mt) of CO2 in 2010. They will be allocated around 100 Mt of allowances for the duration of the three-year trial, although expected economic growth means they will have to reduce their carbon intensity by an estimated 30 percent by 2015 compared with 2010.
Balancing the need for economic growth with carbon control is a challenge. Emissions in China are expected to rise for years, given the importance China’s political elite continue to place on economic growth. Some observers question how much pressure China’s planners are prepared to put on its big emitters. The pilots set emission limits from January 2013 through the end of 2015. “I think the emissions caps will be relatively lenient,” Chai says.
Certainly the regulators will be eager to avoid any “carbon leakage”—that is, driving industry out of their jurisdictions through imposing too stringent targets ahead of any national program. But at this point Chai can only speculate about their stringency. Limited information is available about participating companies, their historical emissions—and even the rules under which the pilots will operate. And part of the reason is that some of these data do not exist.
*The problem with data*
To run effectively markets rely on an unimpeded flow of information, clear rules and rigorous oversight. China could both benefit from the lessons of earlier efforts, such as Europe’s flagship carbon market—the world’s largest, known as the European Union Emissions Trading System, or ETS. It is under fire from some environmentalists because of its relatively lax targets and low carbon prices, along with its vulnerability to fraud and abuse.
For the regulators drawing up targets, “there are existing processes and mechanisms on energy consumption which could be drawn on, as well as local exercises in creating GHG [greenhouse gas] inventories,” says Lina Li, a Beijing-based carbon markets expert at Netherlands-based consultancy Ecofys. Her firm has advised local regulators and international donors on creating carbon market regulations and infrastructure in China. “But there are still challenges regarding emissions data at the company level.”
This is exactly where the E.U. was in 2005, when it embarked on the pilot phase of its ETS—and the lack of emissions data allowed companies to game the system. E.U. governments asked companies to provide their own, unverified historical emissions data, and many inflated their numbers so as to claim more free allowances from government. This practice created an overhang of surplus permits that led to a price collapse in 2007.
Generous allocations of allowances are probably inevitable as the price paid for industry acceptance, however, suggests Karl Upston-Hooper, legal counsel of GreenStream Network, a Finnish carbon asset manager that is active in China. “You will struggle to find an ETS that is not overallocated” in its early phases, he says. Indeed, he argues that the pilots in China are less about creating carbon markets and more about gathering data. “I’ve taken the view that they’re implementing an emissions-monitoring system, not a carbon market—and I’m okay with that as a first step on the road.”
Most observers—including from the environmental movement—are prepared to give China’s regulators time to get things right. “It is our view that the first step for Chinese ETS is to get the system right from the beginning—the trading platform; the monitoring, reporting and verification system; [emissions] inventories; getting companies informed and cooperative—and gradually shift toward more stringent caps,” says Li Shuo, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace East Asia. Plenty of studies see China’s emissions peaking by 2030. Some are more optimistic: recent ones predict 2025 to 2030.
A further data challenge is whether China’s regulators will be sufficiently transparent and even-handed when it comes to the country’s carbon markets. “In Europe and elsewhere, ETS data are under public scrutiny. That may not be the case in China,” says Point Carbon’s Chai.
Another concern is insufficient coordination among the seven pilots, Li says. Indeed, rivalry exists among the various authorities, with Beijing deliberately encouraging a degree of “policy competition” to test differing approaches to see which works best.
Last, despite a recent announcement by the powerful National Development and Reform and Commission (NDRC) that it is to propose a national carbon cap for China’s next five-year plan, which runs from 2016 to 2020, a national Chinese carbon market is not assured. Other methods could prove more effective. “In China the ETS is not the only tool,” says Wu Changhua, Beijing-based Greater China director of the nonprofit Climate Group. She notes that the nation’s finance ministry is promoting a carbon tax whereas other government ministries are considering a system for crediting and trading energy-efficiency improvements.
Wu also cautions that international media speculation around the introduction of a national carbon cap by 2016 is overblown. She argues that the NDRC is agitating for the inclusion of the concept in the next plan to ensure resources are available for more research and policy development. “One thing is for sure,” she adds. “The political leadership in China is much more serious, stronger and determined to tackle environmental problems. But it will be a journey. We’re not going to get there immediately.” Reported by Huffington Post 2 hours ago.
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