Environment China

Today, we're speaking about the topic of sustainable fishing, and especially the role of finance, with Alice Chen. Qianming (Alice) Chen is a researcher at the International Institute of Green Finance, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing. She and colleagues at IIGF and WWF recently authored a series on Financing Sustainable Seafood, and she is also the author of a column summarizing the report's findings and other related ideas in China Dialogue. For further reading: https://chinadialogueocean.net/en/fisheries/finance-is-crucial-to-making-fishing-and-aquaculture-sustainable/ https://iigf-china.com/financing-sustainable-seafood-a-baseline-study-of-sustainable-seafood-finance-in-china https://iigf-china.com/financing-sustainable-seafood-a-study-of-environment-related-financial-risks-in-chinas-seafood-sector

In today's episode, we are looking at Shanxi province, known as the country's most coal-intensive provincial economy. Over the past several years, various research cooperation efforts have looked at how Shanxi could transition away from its heavy emphasis on coal, and eventually phase down coal in line with China's 2030-2060 goals. Today, we are talking to Zhou Yang, Advisor at Agora Energiewende's China programme, which has just published a Chinese-language report, Experience and Lessons learned from Regional Coal Transitions in Germany. A link to the report is below. In the podcast, we will discuss a few of the potential lessons described in the report, namely (1) the importance of breaking energy monopolies and diversifying energy supply and markets to include regular citizens, (2) ways to diversify the local economy away from resource-intensive sectors, including tourism, drawing on the example of Lusatia in eastern Germany, and (3) reducing the cultural emphasis on the resource economy by boosting education and innovation in non-resource-intensive industries, drawing on the example of the Ruhr Valley economic transformation. Zhou Yang is based in Beijing and works as Advisor China at Agora Energiewende. She manages Agora's projects on regional energy transition and power sector decarbonization. Before joining Agora, Zhou worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council Beijing Office for three years on the Oil Cap Project and Coal Cap Project. Prior to joining NRDC, Zhou was with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C., where she conducted research and prepared publications on China's energy-water nexus issues. Report link: Zhou Yang, "Low-Carbon Energy Transition in Shanxi: Experience and Lessons from Regional Coal Transitions in Germany," Agora Energiewende, 2022, at https://www.energypartnership.cn/fileadmin/user_upload/china/media_elements/publications/2022/Agora/Low-Carbon_Energy_transition_in_Shanxi_and_lessons_from_Germany_CN.pdf.

Today, we're discussing the newly released Guide to Chinese Climate Policy, published by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. The book is available for free download at https://chineseclimatepolicy.oxfordenergy.org/. We are welcoming two past guests back onto the podcast: David Sandalow and Michal Meidan, who co-authored the Guide along with Anders Hove (OIES), Philip Andrews-Speed, Edmund Downie (Princeton), and Sally Qiu (Columbia). In our discussion, we touch on the following: China's emissions trends The main drivers of emissions for each fossil fuel Whether China is committed to its climate goals, given near-term economic issues Why China is still building coal Trends in nuclear power The role of market reforms And lastly, David reports on his main takeaways from COP27 in Egypt Professor David Sandalow is the Inaugural Fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. Prior to Columbia, David served in senior positions in the US government – at the White House, State Department and US Department of Energy. He's also served in various roles at the Brookings Institution, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the World Wildlife Fund. He is the author of numerous reports and articles about China energy and environmental policies and trends, and he's very knowledgeable about China. He joined us on episode 62, to talk about the 2019 version of the Guide. Dr Michal Meidan is Director of the China Programme at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. Before joining OIES in July 2019, she headed cross-commodity China research at Energy Aspects. Prior to that, she headed China Matters, an independent research consultancy providing analysis on the politics of energy in China. She is the author of numerous academic papers, articles, and books related to China, energy, and political economy.

Today, we're coming back to the topic of China's power system, the recent power outages in Sichuan, and the role of flexibility. Our guest today is Professor Yuan Jiahai of North China Electric Power University. Professor Yuan a Professor of Management Science at the North China Electric Power University, where his research focuses on the low-carbon transition of China's power sector, with a particular emphasis on coal power. He has published over 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals and is listed in Scopus 2020 and 2021 Highly Cited Chinese Researchers. Professor Yuan received his PhD in 2006, and since then has been active as an independent Chinese energy policy analyst, publishing not only academic journal articles, but also influential policy reports and media articles on the low-carbon transition. On that note, Prof Yuan has recently published two very interesting items: The first is a report published by NCEPU and NRDC on power system flexibility, and the second is an article in Caixin about the Sichuan power shortages. In this episode, we discuss both the Sichuan power shortages as well as the report. The references are here: Yuan Jiahai et al., "四川高温限电痛点在何处，如何防止重演？[What are the pain points of Sichuan's power supply under the heat wave and how to prevent them recurring?], Ciaxin, 6 September 2022, at http://zhishifenzi.blog.caixin.com/archives/260319. Yuan Jiahai and Zhang Jian, "电力系统灵活性提升：技术路径、经济性与政策建议" [Improving power system flexibility: technology pathways, economic analysis, and policy suggestions], Natural Resources Defense Council, July 2022, at http://www.nrdc.cn/Public/uploads/2022-07-18/62d4c2e313df1.pdf.

Today, we're talking about China's evolving market for green energy and renewable power purchases, with Sharon Feng, at Director of Advisory Services and Research at Azure International. Sharon is an expert in China's power markets, including renewables, energy storage, power trading, and clean energy procurement. She has worked in previous roles at GE, Siemens, and the philanthropy Save the Children, and holds degrees from Peking University and the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Not least, she has spoken at several Beijing Energy Network events and is based in the lovely Ditan Park of Beijing. In today's podcast we cover: What has changed in China's green power markets in the past few years leading to growing interest in this type of power? How is green power priced, and is it always priced at a premium? What are the volumes like? What provinces are most active, and what is happening on inter-provincial trading of renewables? How the market is likely to develop in the future, including integration with carbon markets. Whether requirements that wind and solar projects install energy storage are hurting the competitiveness of renewables. Whether distributed solar can participate in green power markets. Whether energy storage makes sense for corporate buyers on a stand-alone basis. The role of time-of-use pricing for retail power customers and wholesale spot markets for generators. For further reading: https://www.azure-international.com/

Today, we're going back to the hot topic of the past two years, namely the energy transition away from coal and how it relates to energy security concerns, especially the recent power outages that have affected parts of the country. Our guest is Xi Xi, an analyst at the innovative Green Development Program, or iGDP, based in Beijing. At iGDP she works on energy modeling with the Energy Policy Simulator (EPS), an energy systems model that informs policy makers on decarbonization pathways. She also assists in low carbon development strategy for provincial governments, while also researching energy and electricity investment in Belt and Road Initiative Countries. Previously, Xi Xi was a consultant for the U.S. EPA at Abt Associates, and she also served as an investment analyst at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, where she looked at cleantech startups for investment and grant opportunities. In addition, Xi Xi is executive director of the BJ Energy Network!

Today, we're going to discuss the huge problem of marine plastics. Millions of tons of pastic waste enter the world's oceans every year, and according to the UN Environmental Programme, 85% of marine litter is plastic. Plastic in the ocean is everywhere, and it has consequences for all life at sea, and on land ecosystems and climate as well. Our guest is Dr LIU Xiao, the Project Manager at GIZ. She is in charge of the GIZ China implemented Rethinking Plastic-Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter. She is a Member of Recycling and Waste Minimization Committee, and she has more than 15 years of experience on municipal solid waste management and sustainable development, especially on policy research and technology consulting. Her work mainly focuses on the integrated waste management and low carbon transition, plastic waste management and pollution control, and sustainable business models in the waste sector. For further reading: https://rethinkingplastics.eu/ About the project (video series): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ11NCNYupw

可持续女性系列第二期 - Eco Buyer创始人思晴 实在是听过到太多次"环保和可持续圈还是女生多"（也确实是事实），我们萌生了一个想法：那为什么不干脆做一系列在"可持续议题工作的女性"播客，一起来聊一聊她们独特又好玩的经历和故事，探一探她们所在行业的新鲜事呢？ 第二期播客系列我们邀请到了"一棵Eco Buyer"的联合创始人思晴。Eco buyer是一家关心身体健康、动物福祉和地球环境的纯素、纯净美妆和植物基美食的集合店。店里只提供和推荐不含动物成分、不做动物测试的可持续纯素产品。我们在节目中将探讨： Eco Buyer的成立契机 两位创始人的日常 赛道转型：专攻纯素化妆品和植物基美食 Eco Buyer到底是怎么赚钱的 节目的最后，两位主播和嘉宾将共同探讨作为"可持续资深人士"的糟心瞬间和怨念；以及作为三档不同播客的主理人她们的播客制作经验分享。赶紧收听吧！ You've likely heard there are more and more women in environmental and sustainability circles, which is indeed the case! This is the topic of Environment China's podcast series, Women in Sustainability, where we talk with unique and interesting experiences and stories of women across the sustainability field, and what's new in their industries. For the second podcast in the series, we invited Si Qing, co-founder of Eco Buyer. Eco Buyer is a collection of vegan, pure beauty and plant-based food that cares about health, animal welfare and the planet. The store only offers and recommends sustainable vegan products that are free of animal ingredients and not tested on animals. In the show we will explore: The establishment of Eco Buyer The daily life of the two founders Track transformation: specializing in vegan cosmetics and plant-based cuisine How exactly does Eco Buyer make money? At the end of the show, the two hosts and our guest discuss their experiences of being eco-friendly human beings, as well as their podcast production experience as the hosts of three different podcasts.

In this episode, we discuss the important topic of green finance in China, especially as it relates to China's investments abroad on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Our guest today is Christoph Nedopil-Wang, Associate Professor and Director of the Green Finance & Development Center, Fudan University, where he works on green finance. Christoph also previous worked in Beijing at the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF), as well as at GIZ. He also joined us here at Environment China in December 2020 to introduce the traffic light system of evaluating BRI projects. One of the reasons we're coming together to talk today is the recent publication of an article in the Asia Pacific Policy Studies journal, which Christoph wrote together with Mathias Lund-Larson, Mengdi Yue and Yao Wang. You can find a link to the article in the show notes, but the full title is "Prospects of the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) to catalyse infrastructure financing." Other topics we discuss are: whether the traffic light system for evaluating BRI project impacts on the environment has had any impact, why China decided tProspects of the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) to catalyse infrastructure financingo ban financing for new coal plants overseas, whether the recent policy to make BRI projects apply international ESG standards is having an effect, and why it was adopted now, instead of earlier, and whether the MCDF is really resulting in actual benefits in terms of project preparation. Other links: Christoph Nedopil, et al., "Prospects of the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) to catalyse infrastructure financing," Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 27 April 2022, at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/app5.345.

Today, we're looking at the topic of environmental standards for different industries in China, and in particular talking to Prof. Yixian Sun of the University of Bath in the U.K. about the findings of his new book published by MIT Press: Certifying China: The Rise and Limits of Transnational Sustainability Governance in Emerging Economies The book explores the potential and limits of transnational eco-certification in moving the world's most populous country toward sustainable consumption and production. Dr Sun identifies the forces that drive companies from three sectors—seafood, palm oil, and tea—to embrace eco-certification. The success of eco-certification, Dr Sun writes, will depend on the extent to which it wins the support of domestic actors in fast-growing emerging economies. Yixian Sun is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in International Development at the University of Bath, UK. He has a Ph.D. and Master's degree in International Relations / Political Science, from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva. He's a Research Fellow of the Earth System Governance (ESG) Project and a co-convener of the ESG taskforce on SDGs. He studies transnational governance, environmental politics, and sustainable consumption, and his research seeks to explain the changing role of China in global environmental governance, including sustainability transitions within China as well as sustainability impacts of China's overseas engagement. For further reading: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/certifying-china https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/5271/Certifying-ChinaThe-Rise-and-Limits-of