China NewsBase
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1,375 articles matching the search query.
Three tornadoes, record rainfall, and blistering heat waves raise climate alarm in China
Extreme weather has hit areas all around China in the past week, as Beijing forges on with new policies to reach its climate goals.
China rolls out another plan to adapt to climate change
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and various other departments, yesterday published a new plan to tackle climate change amid another season of heavy rainfall that has already left at least 32 people dead in southern China.
High-speed train accident kills one, injures eight in Guizhou Province
A Guangzhou-bound train derailed after plowing into landslide debris, but China’s high-speed railway network has proven to be remarkably safe despite the country’s mountainous geography and climate extremes.
NGLC Giving Circle awards nearly $20,000 to emerging organizations combating climate change
“Across the world, targeting specific groups—in our case, people who love the outdoors—and empowering locals to use their voices to get more support, that is absolutely what we need more of,” says Kyle Obermann, co-founder of China Outdoors Collective.
Can China’s cement industry be cleaned up?
China produces almost 60% of the world’s cement and accounts for most of the colossal carbon footprint of the industry. Plans and new technology are afoot to clean up cement, but it might prove to be largely impossible.
China doubles down on coal
Forget clean energy: The approval of a new mega-mine in Ordos, China’s mining hub, shows that Beijing is still committed to mining coal.
Decarbonizing China with Giuliana Auinger
Giuliana Auinger, Asia Head of Sustainability for Schneider Electric, discusses the challenges of sustainability and decarbonization in China.
The ever-widening net: Mapping the scale, nature and corporate…
A new report says China engages in unregulated — and often illegal — fishing that is contributing to global environmental degradation, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation, a U.K.-based non-governmental organization. The report maps out the scale, nature, and corporate structures of the nation’s distant-water fleet and “the overarching failure of the Chinese government” to effectively control it.
Eco-activism, sustainability, and food security in China: A conversation with Sonalie Figueiras
Sonalie Figueiras, founder of Hong Kong-based sustainability platform Green Queen, talks about China’s environment and food security goals, and challenges that censorship presents for eco-activism.
Tencent pledges to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030
As one of the world’s largest operators of data centers, Tencent was responsible for 5.1 million tons of carbon dioxide last year, roughly one-tenth of what the entire city of New York emitted in 2020. The company is apparently aware of the problem and is seeking multiple methods to achieve zero emissions.
Deadly link between sharp emissions fall and China’s record 2020 rains
A sudden drop in air pollutants was linked to China’s record-breaking rainfall in 2020, according to a study by Nature Communications. The drop, caused by industry shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic, was a major contributor to one-third of the extreme rains that led to mass flooding, killing more than 150 and affecting 55 million people.
In praise of Beijing 2022’s coolest venue, Big Air Shougang
Lots of snarky comments were directed at the site of the big air competition during the Olympics. But Big Air Shougang, an industrial park built around an abandoned steel factory, is a showcase for urban transformation.
Meeting Anti-Pollution Targets, Beijing Breathed Clean Air in 2021
Beijing met its pollution targets in 2021: “The Chinese capital recorded only eight heavily polluted days last year,” Sixth Tone reports, and “the average concentrations of six major air pollutants — including the hazardous PM2.5, PM10, ground-level ozone, and sulfur dioxide — were below the national standard for the first time since 2013.”
China’s Singles Day avoids the limelight
How to run an event centered around rampant consumerism in the age of “common prosperity.” This story is from the SupChina A.M. newsletter — sign up for free here.
'Ordinary people suffer most': China farms face climate woes
A “national awakening” on climate change? Li Shuo, a climate policy expert at Greenpeace East Asia in Beijing, suggested that a series of recent natural disasters made worse by climate change is having an effect on public attitudes in China. The Associated Press reports that “in a common pattern around the world, those who have contributed least to the warming and have the fewest resources to adapt often feel the pain most acutely.”
These Companies Pollute the World More Than Entire Nations
“China Baowu, the world’s top steelmaker, put more CO2 into the atmosphere last year than Pakistan”: Bloomberg worked with CREA, a Finland-based environmental research group, to better understand “some of the largest emitters in China’s most-polluting sectors.” The resulting article also analyzes the path to carbon neutrality for six major sectors: power supply, steel, construction, petrochemical, transportation, and agriculture.
China, the World, and the Mantle of ‘Green Leadership’
This article is adapted from a speech on environmental issues.
In advance of climate summit, tension among Biden aides on China policy
Climate summit “expectations are dim”: The Washington Post has a report on the lead-up to the COP26 summit in Glasgow, which will start on October 31, and the critical role that the U.S.-China relationship plays in such meetings. John Kerry, Biden’s climate envoy, “has repeatedly pushed for direct diplomacy between Biden and Xi, believing that an improved bilateral relationship can produce better outcomes in Scotland…[but] White House aides, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan, are more skeptical that the United States alone can coax China into reducing emissions.”
Analysis: Nine key moments that changed China’s mind about climate change - Carbon Brief
Why is China now taking climate change seriously? For the Carbon Brief, veteran journalist Jianqiang Liu has written the guide “Nine key moments that changed China’s mind about climate change.”
China Issues Roadmap for Carbon Neutrality by 2060
“Working guidance” for carbon neutrality: The CCP Central Committee and State Council jointly released a document on October 24 that “contains general directions, timelines and measures for sectors including industry, energy, transportation, construction, carbon sinking, legislation and financial markets.” A central target of the guidance is to upgrade China to at least 80% non-fossil-fuel energy by 2060, up from about 16% currently.
New Draft of Wetlands Protection Law Offers Role to China’s Grassroots Governments
Revised version also doubles the fine that would be levied on those who severely damage wetlands
COP 15: Highlights From the Kunming Declaration
While conservationists have welcomed the lofty biodiversity targets, they say governments must translate them into actions to achieve the proposed goals.
Editor’s note for Tuesday, October 12, 2021
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn. Today: Xi Jinping dials in to a UN meeting on biodiversity and announces major initiatives, including the establishment of China’s first batch of national parks; Harvard’s Chinese language program has relocated from Beijing to Taipei.
The Tiger Is Making a Tentative Comeback in China’s North
Tiger conservation progress: As a result of decades-long environmental degradation related to economic growth, tigers were once nearly extinct in China. However, thanks to rising awareness of environmental protection and fresh efforts by government authorities, the big cats are making a tentative comeback in China’s North.
How China will achieve carbon neutrality: The role of the emissions trading scheme and other reforms
“China, when it makes targets, is not unreliable in commitments,” said Michael Davidson, a leading scholar on China’s environmental policy. But that doesn’t mean the path to carbon neutral will be easy.
The end of China’s runaway growth
Decades of double-digit growth have produced five problems that Chinese leader Xi Jinping hopes to correct with his “New Development Concept.” Will it work?
China's power cuts may foreshadow shortages of global goods
BEIJING (AP) — Global shoppers face possible shortages of smartphones and other goods ahead of Christmas after power cuts to meet official energy use targets forced Chinese factories to shut down and left some households in the dark.
China’s Gaming Body to Bar Local Games on Foreign Platforms
The agreement with over 200 domestic companies is aimed at controlling gaming addiction among young players.
European Businesses Urge China to Open Up, Avoid Inward Turn
European businesses in China urged the country to steer away from what they see as an “inward” turn of the economy to achieve self-sufficiency, which has impeded their operations and prospects.
China pledge to stop funding coal projects ‘buys time for emissions target’
China was lender of last resort for overseas governments seeking finance for coal projects
Xi Jinping says China ‘will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad’
At the UN General Assembly, China’s leader pledged to end support for coal projects overseas in favor of green and low-carbon energy. But while the single sentence effectively marked the end of coal financing abroad, China continues to build new coal power plants at home.
China’s overseas loans pose risks to ecology, indigenous lands: US study
Speedy approvals make Chinese loans attractive, but both policy banks and borrowing countries must step up due diligence, researchers behind study say.
Wall Street’s Message on Evergrande: China Has It Under Control
Wall Street analysts are putting their faith in the Chinese Communist Party.
Evergrande Crisis Isn’t China Lehman Moment for Citi, Barclays
China Evergrande Group’s debt crisis is unlikely to become China’s “Lehman moment,” according to strategists at Citigroup Inc., Barclays Plc and UBS Group AG.
Forget giant pandas — meet China’s lesser-known endangered species
The success story of the giant panda, which was once critically endangered, often overshadows the plight of hundreds of other species in China, many of which are critically endangered.
The China-Australia trade war is hurting Mongolia’s environment
When China turned its back on Australian coal last year, it looked north to help plug the shortfall. That was good news for big business in Mongolia — and bad news for locals.
U.S. and China commit to ‘taking enhanced climate actions’ after Kerry’s negotiations in Shanghai
China appeared to accept U.S. climate envoy John Kerry’s proposition that climate change be treated as a standalone issue in relations, nearly three months after dismissing the possibility. But will the words of a new joint statement translate into action?
Xi emphasizes ‘ethnic unity,’ environmental protection, rural development, and military readiness at Two Sessions
Chinese state media have highlighted four meetings led by Xi Jinping in the past week, with delegations from Inner Mongolia and Qinghai Province, representatives from the health and education fields, and security and military personnel.
Two Sessions: Beijing sets goals for 6% GDP growth, environmental protection, and crushing dissent in Hong Kong
The annual gathering of the National People’s Congress in Beijing kicked off with modest goals for the economy and environment, and plans for the more complete subjugation of opposition forces in Hong Kong.
The future of U.S.-China philanthropic collaboration on the environment
“At the end of the day, compared to climate, everything else is irrelevant,” says Joyce Ma, China Country Director for The Nature Conservancy.
