Food-Water-Energy Nexus in China: Challenges and Opportunities

Moving towards an ever increasing urban world and the pressure and strains that richer more expectant consumers place on the worlds resources put our ecosystem and ability to provide for the populations at risk. The food-water-energy nexus is at the centre of this considered development. The three areas are intrinsically linked and underpin almost all areas of human consumption and activity. Th…

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Qatar’s Food Security Crisis: Lessons for China

You might be forgiven for thinking that politics is politics and food and resource provision is left to business, but more and more so implications of politics on a country's ability to feed and power its population are increasing. The current scenario in the Gulf states is proof of this, on 5 June, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries severed ties with Qatar and moved to cut off land, sea and…

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Forget Carbon, Water is China’s Biggest Worry

Following the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, COP21 supporters seem optimistic about China’s emissions. The U.S. and China agreed to ratify the Paris Climate Agreement and sent a strong signal to other countries about their commitment to reform. Under the agreement, China must reach three concrete goals by 2030: 1) reduce carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65% (compared 2005 levels); 2) reach its peak…

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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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US Exports Trillions of Showers to China

Water is our most important natural resource, it has no replacements or substitutes and all human activity in some way relies on it to function – from the basic biochemistry of the body to large-scale thermal electricity production. Once abundant in many areas, as the planet’s population has grown and poorly managed industrial processes have polluted water sources all over the world, scarci…

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Are Chinese Cities Heading for a Water Crisis?

Serious water crisis due to never-ending drought struck São Paulo and, consequently, the city faces a massive problem to quench its 20 million citizens’ thirst. Similar situations are affecting cities around the world, including many Chinese cities. For nearly half a century, the capacity and number of rivers in China have decreased significantly, with a 50% reduction due to the diversion of water…

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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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