The Nitty-Gritty: A Rundown of China’s Emissions Issue

While the rest of the world debates the impact of carbon emissions and the need to create binding agreements, China’s battle with air pollution has grown tangible enough to effectively catalyze stakeholders into action. With only six of China’s cities meeting the second tier of the National Environmental Air Quality Standards (NEAQS) in 2015, air pollution has become one of the biggest challenges…

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New Report: Air Pollution in China

"Improvements in China’s air quality will not only come through national government action. It is a challenge that will require the engagement and enforcement of regulations at both provincial and local levels of government. Recent pledges coming from the national level to reduce pollution, through the 13th five year plan, and measurable improvements in AQI during 2015, show progressive steps ar…

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Smog: It’s a China Thing

PM2.5 are fine particles of air pollution smaller than 2.5 micrometers — small enough that they can pass through our body’s filters and enter our lungs and cells. In fact, PM2.5 pollutants can be touched, tasted, and obviously seen whenever you look out the window at a Shanghai skyline or a Beijing avenue. Smog and urbanization go hand-in-hand around the world, and China is certainly no exception.…

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5 Key Actions to Engaging Local Stakeholders

On Wednesday I attended Plasticity forum in Shanghai, an event hosted by Doug Woodring that focuses on the plastics industry bringing together professional, experts and stakeholders from around the globe to promote and discuss the future of plastics and its progressive management. Despite a host of interesting talks I wanted to share with you the theme of a conversation that I had with the seni…

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Urban Mobility in China: Air Travel

Air travel is fast becoming the most popular form of international travel, and the industry in China is no exception to this. Commercial flying in the world’s second-largest economy has had an immense amount of investment over the past decade, and it is the fastest growing passenger air market in the world. With the expectation that 300 million more people will move to cities over the next twenty…

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Urban Mobility in China: Cars

China now has as many automotive drivers as the entire population of the United States and it has rapidly become the largest car market in the world. This has been driven by the greater purchasing power of China’s growing middle class, which has been afforded the luxury of private travel for the first time. Less than thirty years ago, Chinese citizens were forbidden to buy cars but in the mid-1980…

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China Moves to Reduce Ship Emissions

China is beginning to take a tougher stance on its environmental issues. Towards the end of last year, COP21 and Chinese urban air pollution dominated the news, but as unilateral agreements were agreed for the first time and pollution levels prompted the highest-level warnings in the Chinese Capital, in the final month of 2015 a far less publicized piece of legislation was passed aimed at stemming…

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Will China’s students flee to greener skies?

Students are the future thought and business leaders in society. They are a strong force of influence within the world of business. Therefore, understanding their attitudes towards societal trends and issues provide insight into how the future might shape up for China and its leaders. We discussed in previous posts the impact of coal burning and transport on China’s PM2.5 levels in cities. With…

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China’s Priority is Smog, Not Carbon

For many living in China’s major cities, the start of the COP21 talks was a day of severe air pollution. Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang reached 611, 237 and 274 AQI respectively, prompting the issuing of the highest air quality alert of the year so far in the capital. In light of the climate talks, activists and deniers alike have voiced their opinions on the subject and fierce debate will…

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China’s Reliance on Coal is Unsustainable

With the recent news that China’s domestic coal consumption was understated by up to 17%, a renewed debate has begun about China’s data quality and ability to keep its commitments to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). A debate that is only intensified by the fact that China has been trying to proactively position itself as a leader at the World Climate Summit in Paris. For us though,…

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A Complex Regional Challenge for China’s New Environmental Minister

China announced this week the appointment of Chen Jining as its next Environmental minister. An environmental specialist and current president of Beijing’s Tsinghua University, he will take over from the widely criticized, Zhou Shengxian, with the move set to pave the way for a stronger stance on domestic environmental policy. His selection comes off the back of a highly decorated academic career…

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Air Pollution in China – Daily and Seasonal Vulnerability

Earlier this week a report by Greenpeace revealed that levels of PM2.5 within China now contribute to more premature deaths than smoking. Figures state PM2.5 accounts for an average of 90 deaths per 100000 people, 20 more than smoking which stands at 70 per 100000. The studied incorporated a review of 31 cities and highlighted the relative danger present in each area. It was noted that despite the…

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Three Gorges Dam Localizes Upstream Waste. Positive Externality?

One of the conversations that I find myself in, and write about as well, is the ability of tangibility to catalyze change. that instead of focusing efforts on issues like "climate Chnage" and saving the polar bears, it is important to look locally at the source to fix problems before their byproducts (methane, CO2, lead, etc) are able to do their damage.  So, when reading through the recent Busine…

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