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Environment China
Environment China

Environment China

Environment China is a bilingual podcast from the Beijing Energy Network. The show features conversations with advocates, entrepreneurs, and experts working in the environmental field in China.

Available Episodes 10

The Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI) has reached the ripe old age of 10 this month. Those 10 years have seen a lot of change, including on topics like the relative focus on clean energy versus fossil fuels and the interest in and incentives for applying ESG criteria to BRI investments. Today we are joined by frequent guest and longtime friend of the pod, Professor Christoph Nedopil-Wang. This year he became the Director Griffith Asia Institute and is also Professor at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. Previously, he was Associate Professor and Director of the Green Finance & Development Center, Fudan University. He previous worked in Beijing at the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF), as well as at GIZ.

Cheat sheet:

  • Q: Was the 1H 2023 really the greenest ever, as Reuters summarized? (A: Reuters focused on energy sector, where change most evident, though oil & gas investments are big and lumpy, so can't just look at 1H. "Small and beautiful" green investments becoming more common.)
  • Q: Is energy becoming greener just because fossils falling, but renewables not picking up as much? (A: Both declining coal share and growing renewables, but renewables need much stronger growth.)
  • Q: Why is state-owned sector declining and private sector going up? Is that due to SOEs focusing on domestic investment to respond to downturn? (A: Perhaps, but also because private firms now much stronger, and battery-related giants investing in big projects.)
  • Q: What about mining for battery materials, is there more investment in value-creating parts of that supply chain in Africa, or is it all being processed elsewhere? (A: Yes, but need to be cautious on environmental impact of local processing and whether local firms or communities actually capture value.)
  • Q: What is the situation with Chinese basic ESG principles (disclosure, community involvement) being applied on the BRI, as opposed to just meeting minimum local standards? (A: Not so good, for the power sector case studies they looked at.)

For further reading:

Christoph Nedopil Wang, ‘China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2023 H1,’ Green Finance & Development Center, Fudan University, 1 August 2023, at https://greenfdc.org/china-belt-and-road-initiative-bri-investment-report-2023-h1/

Cecilia Springer et al., ‘Elevating ESG: Empirical lessons on environmental and social governance implementation of Chinese projects in Africa,’ Boston University, 30 August 2023, at https://www.bu.edu/gdp/2023/08/30/elevating-esg-empirical-lessons-on-environmental-social-and-governance-implementation-of-chinese-projects-in-africa/

Andrew Hayley, 'China's Belt and Road energy projects set for "greenest" year, research shows,' Reuters, 2 August 2023, at https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-belt-road-energy-projects-set-greenest-year-research-2023-08-02/ 

In this episode of our Women in Sustainability series, we are speaking again with Dr Liu Xiao about marine waste and the broader topic of waste and recycling in general. We talk with Dr Liu about a typical day at work on her projects at GIZ.

Dr Liu is Project Manager at GIZ of the Rethinking Plastic-Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter (China), Integrated Waste Management NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) Project, and Textile Compass Project. She is also a member of Recycling and Waste Minimisation Committee of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). She has more than 15 years’ experience on municipal solid waste (MSW) management and sustainable development especially on policy research and technology consulting. Her research is mainly about integrated waste management and low carbon transition, plastic waste management and pollution control, with a special focus on sustainable business model establishment in the waste sector.

我们一生中有将近三分之一的时间都在工作中度过，所以我们要的不仅仅只是一份工作，而是一个与我们的目标、优势和价值观相一致的职业。2022年我们发起了“可持续宝藏青年都在做什么”圆桌并邀请了来自环境、能源和可持续发展领域的小伙伴们分享他们的工作机构和内容、职业发展规划及在工作上遇到的挑战。在经历了2022年每月一期的活动后，我们觉得还是非常有必要把这些宝贵的经验以文字或者播客的形式记录下来，所以“环境能源可持续圈打工人”系列播客诞生了！

在环境中国最新一期的播客中，我们邀请到了刘晓博士——刘晓是德国国际合作机构（GIZ）的项目执行主任，她主要负责城市生活垃圾综合管理、循环经济与海洋垃圾、和纺织行业绿色转型这三个项目。她在城市生活垃圾管理领域有15年的政策及技术咨询经验，并关注废弃物管理及可持续商业模式的建立。我们在播客中将探讨刘晓早期的学业和工作背景、加入德国国际合作机构的契机、在德国国际合作机构工作的一天等。

Episode producer: Joyce Yuan

Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina 

In this episode of our Women in Sustainability series, we are talking about the evolution and underpinnings of China's climate diplomacy. Our guest is Taylah Bland, Schwarzman Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. She specializes in China’s domestic climate politics and international environmental law. She is a graduate of New York University, Shanghai and Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar.

In this episode we cover:

  • China's tendency to boost domestic policy first, before making climate commitments.
  • China's signing on to climate agreements in the early phases, such as the Kyoto Protocol and Clean Development Mechanism
  • The importance of China's domestic policy leading up to its Paris commitment
  • Whether China's climate diplomacy commitments lag domestic trends so much, such as on renewables, that they are more for splashy announcements and soft power
  • What further domestic policy steps are needed before China can enhance its ambitions for the next round of climate talks

Further reading:

Taylah Bland, "Key Factors Shaping China’s Engagement With International Environmental Law," Asia Society Policy Institute, April 2023, at https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/key-factors-shaping-chinas-engagement-international-environmental-law. 

Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina

Episode produced by: Anders Hove

Today's episode looks at the topic of electric vehicles and their impact on both carbon emissions and urban air quality. China has the world’s largest market for electric vehicles, and it is the largest maker of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles manufactured worldwide. Hence, the environmental impact of EVs, even outside of China, often goes back upstream to China.

Our guest is Zhang Shaojun, Associate Professor at the Tsinghua University School of the Environment. His research examines the environmental impacts of emissions from road transportation systems on air quality, climate and public health. Before joining Tsinghua University, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at University of Michigan and Atkinson Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Cornell University. 

Shaojun and his colleagues have published two important papers on these topics this year. The first, in the journal PNAS Nexus, looks at the upstream greenhouse gas emissions from battery manufacturing as well as a regional breakdown of power sector emissions from EV charging. The second paper, in Environmental Pollution, looks at the impact of EVs on air quality, employing Tsinghua's CMAQ model to look at how EVs affect ozone and PM2.5, in particular considering the seasonal effects on air chemistry, which relates to the formation of secondary pollution. (Primary emissions refer to pollutants directly emitted from vehicles or power plants, whereas secondary pollutants are formed in the atmosphere through mixing of chemical precursors.)

For further reading:

Fang Wang, Shaojun Zhang, Yinan Zhao, Yunxiao Ma, Yichen Zhang, Anders Hove, and Ye Wu, “Multisectoral drivers of decarbonizing battery electric vehicles in China,” PNAS Nexus, Volume 2, Issue 5, May 2023, https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/5/pgad123/7159885.

Yiliang Jiang, Xinyu Liang, Shaojun Zhang, Zechun Hu, Anders Hove, and Ye Wu, “The future air quality impact of electric vehicle promotion and coordinated charging in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region,” Environ Pollut., 1 September 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121928.

Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina

Episode Executive Producer: Anders Hove

Today's podcast looks at the topic of sustainable forestry and the role of China, particularly at the role of Chinese banks. Our guest is Beibei Yin, who researches the intersection of China’s policies on forestry practices abroad and policies on green finance. Two years ago she founded her own consultancy called Bambu Consulting. Previously, she served for many years as Senior Policy Advisor at Global Witness based in London, where she researched topics such as addressing financing from China that leads to deforestation in Southeast Asia, stopping illegal timber trade, and the role of global supply chains in addressing deforestation and illegal timber. She previously joined the podcast in May 2018 to talk about her research following the 9000-mile path of illegal timber from Papua New Guinea to markets. 

For further reading:

Beibei Yin, "China’s new green finance guidelines have a deforestation blind spot," 1 August 2022, at https://chinadialogue.net/en/business/chinas-new-green-finance-guidelines-have-a-deforestation-blind-spot/. 

Beibei Yin, "Who is Who No. 3 - Chinese Commercial Banks: an NGO Guide," Urgewald, January 2023, at https://www.urgewald.org/sites/default/files/media-files/WhoIsWho-No3-ChineseCommercialBanks.pdf. 

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https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina

Episode Executive Producer: Anders Hove

Last week, China came out with a dramatic new policy on green certificates, radically reforming what had been a sleepy aspect of the clean energy transition in China. We don't usually do breaking news here on Environment China, but it happens that our co-producer, Anders Hove, has just published a paper on the topic as well as a short reaction article to the new policy. (Links below.)

The new green certificate policy, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, and National Energy Administration, expands China's domestic renewable energy certificate scheme from onshore wind and solar to all types of renewables. The expansion means that all renewable projects will now be able to generate Green Electricity Certificates, or GECs, though only some will be traded. The policy reforms how GECs are priced and it also bans domestic generators from selling international renewable energy certificates to prevent double counting. 

Further reading:

Anders Hove and Gary Sipeng Xie, "Green certificates with Chinese characteristics: Will green certificates help China’s clean energy transition?" Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, 8 August 2023, at https://a9w7k6q9.stackpathcdn.com/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CE9-Green-certificates-with-Chinese-characteristics.pdf.

Anders Hove, "After China's new green certificate policy, major questions remain," Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (LinkedIn article), 11 August 2023, at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/after-chinas-new-green-certificate%3FtrackingId=ZOupiyoVR1GeYGktG%252BCJjw%253D%253D/?trackingId=ZOupiyoVR1GeYGktG%2BCJjw%3D%3D. 

In this latest installment in our Young Professionals in Sustainability series, we talk with Minjie LU, Energy Advisory Consultant at S&P Global Commodity Insights consulting group. He has six years of experience in the energy industry. His technical expertise includes oil and gas field development, project economics, and investment valuation. Prior to joining S&P, Minjie was a reservoir engineer at Totalenergies' Geoscience Centre in Scotland. He holds an MSc in petroleum engineering from Imperial College London and an ME in structural engineering and a BSc in engineering science from University College Dublin.   In this episode we'll explore: 
  1. His academic and work background
  2. Career change: research-oriented work to consulting
  3. S&P Global Commodity Insightsw's energy upstream research business
  4. A Day in the Life of an Energy Advisory Consultant
  5. Interesting energy consulting projects
  6. Recent major industry events and changes in the energy market
   

2022年我们萌生了一个想法：为什么不把北京能源网络的职场青年人聚起来，做一系列“可持续宝藏青年都在做什么”的圆桌，一起来聊一聊环境和能源圈独特又好玩的工作经历，探一探大家所在行业的新鲜事呢？在经历了2022年每月一期的活动后，我们觉得还是非常有必要把这些宝贵的经验以文字或者播客的形式记录下来，所以“环境能源可持续圈打工人”系列播客诞生了！

在环境中国最新一期的播客中，我们邀请到了陆旻杰——旻杰是标普全球的大宗商品能源咨询师，他在能源上游、油气田勘探开发、项目评估等领域有超过6年的经验。在加入标普前，他在道达尔能源苏格兰科研中心任职。旻杰在英国帝国理工学院获得石油工程的硕士学位，在爱尔兰都柏林大学获得土木与环境工程的硕士和学士学位。请下滑查看播客文字版记录。

1. 旻杰最初是怎么对环境能源领域的学习和工作感兴趣的？可以和我们具体分享一下你在英国和爱尔兰的学业和工作背景吗？

我一直比较喜欢理科类的学科，所以本科就选择了在爱尔兰都柏林大学就读土木与环境工程专业。那段时间爱尔兰正在大力发展海上和陆上风电，所以在学习中我也接触到了很多能源相关的话题。同时，那段时间也是美国“页岩油气”发展的高峰，凭借“页岩油气革命”，美国从全球“第一大能源进口国”变成了“能源出口国”。“非常规油气”的开发也成为了一个全球热议的话题，其中，「水力压裂」对环境的影响也是我们专业学习的一个重要部分，我也开始研究更多关于能源开采的内容。

之后我在英国帝国理工大学就读了石油工程研究生课程。其实在更多深入学习了这个专业之后，我曾经对于石油天然气的刻板印象也发生了改变，当然，或许现在仍然有很多人对于石油天然气这些传统的化石能源持有着很大的反对意见，但我认为在人类能源需求不断攀升的情景下，如何合理的使用石油天然气作为一个“过渡能源”，来帮助人们从高污染高排放的煤炭能源消耗过渡到新能源，是一个相当重要的话题。

毕业后， 我加入了法国道达尔能源在苏格兰的研发中心，主要负责油气工程建模的研究工作，这也让我对国际大型油气公司的运营模式和企业战略有了更多的了解。

2. 旻杰刚刚提到「水力压裂技术」对环境的影响，知乎上有一个帖子名字叫做“你所不知道的水力压裂技术（知识量巨大、烧脑、慎入！）”，你可以用最简单的语言和我们科普一下这个技术，以及它对环境的影响吗？

简单来说，“水力压裂法”指的是在页岩层注入高压的液体，使页岩层产生裂缝，好让我们获得油气的一种技术。在压裂之后，一般会在裂缝中继续注入支撑剂和化学物质，能使地下的裂缝保持张开，这样石油和天然气就可以从这些裂缝中释放出来。“非常规油气”的开采是近几年的事情，所以很多人认为“水力压裂法”是一项新技术，但其实早在70年前在常规油气开发中就有应用了。

环境影响方面的话，目前来看，水力压裂可能造成的环境影响主要问三大类：一是压裂活动需要消耗大量的淡水，那样会对周边群众日常生产活动所需的淡水资源消耗产生竞争或者是占用。二是如果压裂液或者支撑剂泄漏，可能会对地下和地表水资源造成污染，但其实压裂的页岩油气层往往在地下两千米甚至更深以下，除了地上的设备造成的泄漏之外，其实水力压裂可能对地表水资源造成环境影响的可能性很小。第三就是可能会引发小型的地震，但目前来看记载的相关地震影响都很小，尚未有过因为水力压裂引发人员或者财产损失的地震的相关报道。

3. 从苏格兰回国之后，你是怎么加入到标普全球的北京团队的呢？

我是在2019年的下半年加入埃信华迈（IHS Markit）亚太区能源咨询团队的。当时团队的主要负责人还是在美国和新加坡，所以面试基本在线上进行。面试筛选还是挺严格的，公司对我们行业洞察和咨询分析能力都有着非常高的要求，而我也很幸运通过层层筛选加入了团队。2022年，标普全球（S&P Global）和埃信华迈（IHS Markit）合并，我们也从此加入了标普全球的大家庭，另外标普全球大宗商品普氏能源资讯（Platts）所提供的市场信息、基准价格服务等可能大家也都比较耳熟能详了。

4. 旻杰可以和我们分享一下公司在能源上游的业务吗？

我们公司的能源上游业务主要分为三大板块：

第一是研究团队，他们主要负责定期发布一些行业的研究洞察，能源公司战略研究报告及能源收并购相关的研究；

第二是数据团队，主要负责收集全世界各地的上游勘探开发数据，包括油气田、油气井及生产平台的相关数据等等；

第三个就是我所在的能源咨询板块，我们的工作主要是为客户提供一些定制化的能源咨询服务，依靠我们公司能源上游其他两个板块所提供的公司内部数据的支撑，加上额外的数据搜集及研究分析给客户提供油气田勘探开发、项目评估、能源项目收并购技术尽调及目前比较新的“碳捕集、利用和封存技术CCUS”相关的研究工作。

5. 你在标普的职称是“大宗商品能源咨询师”，你可以具体地和我们科普一下你的工作内容吗？

我是在2019年下半年加入公司的，我记得我参与的第一个项目是“深海油气田勘探开发方式及成本”的研究，这也是我们团队一般承接的典型项目类型。我们在项目开展之前就会与客户确定好研究的大纲、内容、方法和项目时间线，从而根据计划逐步开展项目。

在项目开展过程中，我平时主要的工作内容就是搜集研究所需的数据。之前我也提到过，我们数据的主要来源还是我们公司内部的数据库。在信息数据搜集的过程中，我们会随时与公司的研究和数据团队联系，同时也会从外部专家的交流中获取更多的洞察和信息，然后融入到我们的报告中。对于部分需要更深入研究的内容，我们则会进行额外的调研和数据搜集，从而确保研究内容的完整及深度。

在过去四年中，我参与的咨询项目周期从3个月到半年不等，我们也会定期的与客户召开周会及月会来汇报我们的工作进展，也同时获取客户的反馈，对我们的研究内容进行调整和完善。

6. 要不要和我们分享一个最近你觉得比较有趣的项目？

我想和大家分享的是我最近参与的一个项目——随着疫情的放开，我们与客户的交流和分享也得以更多的以线下的方式开展，在最新的这个项目中，我以驻场办公的方式在东南亚某国的客户公司工作了两个多月。

在这期间和客户开展了很多非常高效的互动和交流，一方面我们可以实时的与客户交流项目进展，另一方面客户也可以随时与我们反馈他们的需求，我们可以及时的帮助客户解决很多棘手的问题。我觉得后疫情时代，可能这类的项目会越来越多，我个人感觉很多时候面对面的交流确实会高效许多。

7. 对比之前在道达尔的研究型工作经历，你觉得现在在标普做咨询，工作内容上的主要变化是什么？

我在道达尔研发中心的主要工作是油气工程建模相关的研究，可以说是相当的专业和“定制化”。往往几个月中，我的研究对象就是一个单一的油气藏。主要的工作内容就是编写程序，根据很多的流体公式编制自动化的油气藏模型流体模拟实验。而且因为主要还是以研发为主，一般项目也没有严格的时间线和deadline。

7.1. 要不和我们迅速简单地科普一下“油气藏”吧？

简单来说，“油气藏”就是油气聚集的一个封闭空间，你可以把它想象成一个装着油或者天然气“房子”。油气藏往往会有一个渗透率很低的岩石盖层，你可以把它想象为“屋顶”，他们的作用是阻止油气的流失，把他们妥善的保存起来。

那我现在接着回答之前的问题。相比来说，在标普能源咨询团队的工作就会更偏向能源行业的宏观层面一些，我们会随时追踪全球的能源发展趋势、油气勘探开发新项目和能源转型发展。需要实时的掌握能源行业的动态，挖掘潜在的咨询项目需求，而且与此同时也需要完成手头的咨询项目。正如之前提到的，咨询项目往往都有着严格的时间线规定和研究大纲，因此项目管理也是一门必不可少的技能。

相比之前在道达尔从事比较单一的油气藏建模研究而言，我在标普全球能源咨询团队所涉及的研究内容也更为丰富一些，近些年来我们的研究内容包含了深水油气田勘探开发研究、前沿油气勘探开发技术调研、数字油气田、能源投资决策尽调、能源市场收并购调研及“碳捕集、利用和封存技术CCUS”的调研，等等。

8. 听你分享感觉在咨询行业的工作会更加丰富有趣些，但是consulting总归是consulting，你觉得做咨询比较苦恼的地方在哪里？

因为咨询项目往往需要紧跟客户当下的需求，或许也是因为一般的现成的研究报告已经无法满足客户的要求和定制化解决方案，所以咨询项目有时候需要研究和分析的数据往往难以简单的获得，很多时候需要通过其他相关联的的数据或者信息进行推算或者加入很多合理假设，所以有时候会信息或者数据的获取比较棘手。

另外，咨询项目往往和客户需要开展的某项业务平行的进行，例如客户可能正在着手开展某项投资项目的可行性研究，而请到我们做技术相关的尽调研究。所以客户的需要往往也会随着时间发生改变，有时候可能会提出一些他们看似简单但确需要我们投入很多人力和时间要求，如何最好的满足客户的额外需求但是同时保证项目内原定工作量的完成也是往往需要面对的棘手问题。

但是其实在完成一个个咨询项目的过程中也会有很多rewarding的瞬间，例如我们在咨询项目中给客户提出的建议被他们采纳并付诸现实，并且帮助客户取得了很好的收益汇报。我们往往也会在咨询项目中帮助客户建立一些解决问题的流程和方法，也经常会被客户采纳并融入到他们日常的业务流程之中。

所以怎么说呢，咨询其实是一个令人爱恨交加的行业或者工作吧。

9. 最后和我们分享一下你们行业近期的大事件吧？

去年俄乌冲突的爆发，我们看到了世界能源转型的进程的加速，许多国家开启了加强支持可再生能源的政策，包括欧盟委员会提出“REPowerEU”计划，美国提出的“通胀削减法案（Inflation Reduction Act）“等等都推动了全球新能源产业链发展的进程。

但是与此同时，大家可能忽略了另外一个能源行业大事件：2022年全球煤炭消费和燃煤发电均创历史新高。据国际能源署（IEA）和标普全球大宗商品的研究调查，俄乌战争极大地改变了2022年煤炭市场的价格水平以及供需格局，2022年全球煤炭的总体需求将增长超过1%，达到历史新高。

欧洲是受能源危机影响最严重的地区之一。由于天气条件，水力和核电产量下降，也给欧洲的电力系统带来了额外的压力。作为应对，部分欧洲国家增加了煤炭发电，一些已关闭或处于备用状态的煤炭厂重新进入市场。与此同时，中国、印度、印度尼西亚等煤炭生产、消费大国也创下历史新高。举个例子，自2007年以来，印度的煤炭消费量翻了一番，年增长率达到了惊人的6%，并将继续成为全球煤炭需求的增长引擎。再举个例子，印尼作为全球第三大煤炭生产国，2022年的煤炭的产量也创下了历史新高。

10. 播客开头你也提到自己之前对化石能源的刻板印象。虽然现在全球能源转型加速，但也因为种种原因我们对化石能源的依赖居高不下。我身边很多在传统能源领域工作的朋友们总是自嘲自己在“夕阳行业”，尽管他们完全不需要担心失去工作的问题，这一点你是怎么想的呢？

正如我在播客一开始提到的那样，全球的发展是必然趋势，在因此带来的能源需求不断攀升的情景下，如何合理的使用石油天然气作为一个“过渡能源”，来帮助人们从高污染高排放的煤炭能源消耗过渡到新能源，是一个相当重要的话题。

能源转型需要循序渐进，新能源的投入不但要满足能源需求的增长，也需要填补逐步被淘汰的传统化石能源需求的空缺。因此，个人认为，在新能源尚未形成安全可靠的替代态势之前，传统化石能源仍将占据重要位置。合理地利用石油和天然气资源作为“过渡燃料”，加上科学、适当的开展一些碳捕集、利用和封存项目，是完成全球碳中和事业必不可少的一部分。

In this episode of our Women in Sustainability series, we’re talking with the Grantham Institute's Chunping Xie, looking at the topic of China’s carbon neutrality from a wider economic perspective. Specifically, we discuss a paper published earlier this year by the Grantham Institute entitled: "Embracing the new paradigm of green Development: China Carbon Neutrality Policy Framework research report."

One of the report's several authors, Chunping Xie is a Senior Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, a programme to inform decision-making about China’s policies on climate change, energy, economics and development. She holds a PhD in Energy Economics, and her research interests focus on promoting clean energy transition and sustainable economic development. She has multidisciplinary expertise in economics, energy technologies and energy/climate policy.

The report we discuss today also builds on a report from 2022 entitled, "China's New Growth Story: Linking the 14th Five-Year Plan with the 2060 Carbon Neutrality Pledge." We discuss both reports in the episode.

Topics we discuss are:

  • Why carbon neutrality implies a comprehensive and profound change in China’s development strategy.
  • Whether the idea of a more profound change is recognized widely in China.
  • The need to focus on the individual well-being as opposed to standard GDP measures.
  • Achieving social consensus on carbon neutrality, and why it's important even though policy drives most change.
  • Whether the present focus on coal hinders public awareness of climate change.
  • On policy recommendations in transport, why it's important that China set a date for phasing out fossil fuel internal combustion vehicles.
  • For cities, the relative importance of building retrofit versus new styles of urbanization versus developing cities outside the largest metropolitan areas of E. China.
  • How cities can break free of the need to sell more land for fiscal budget revenue.
  • Who should coordinate the overall economic paradigm shift they recommend, and whether this is happening already.

Further reading:

Min Zhu et al., “Embracing the new paradigm of green development China Carbon Neutrality Policy Framework research report,” Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, February 2023, at https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Embracing-the-New-Paradigm-of-Green-Development-in-China.pdf.

Nicholas Stern & Chunping Xie, "China’s new growth story: linking the 14th Five-Year Plan with the 2060 carbon neutrality pledge," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, 2022, at https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/publication/chinas-new-growth-story-linking-the-14th-five-year-plan-with-the-2060-carbon-neutrality-pledge-2/.

 

In this latest installment of our Women in Sustainability series, we talk with Yuan LIN,  Senior Specialist in Institutional Carbon Management at Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). She works closely with climate initiatives toward the Bank’s green mission as embraced in AIIB’s corporate strategy. She has 15 years of experience in Environmental Impact Assessments, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), carbon trading, and corporate carbon emission management. Before joining AIIB, she worked at the London Stock Exchange, the World Bank China office, and the Energy Foundation. She graduated from Imperial College London with an MSc in Environmental Technology and from the University of Cambridge with an MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development.   In this episode we'll explore:  
  • Her academic and work background
  • Trends in the '碳圈 - tanquan', aka carbon circle in the past ten years
  • Chinese carbon market development from 2015 to 2023
  • A day in the life of an Institutional Carbon Management Senior Specialist at AIIB

Today we will be talking about China’s efforts to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCS), a class of refrigerant with huge impacts on the climate. Our guest today is an expert on the topic, Prof Hu Jianxin. Professor Hu holds bachelor's and masters degrees in Chemistry from Peking University. He has been on the faculty at Peking University since 1986, and is currently professor at the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, and also the Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Peking University. He has published numerous academic studies of HFCs, focusing on potential emissions reductions pathways as well as the cost of mitigation in various sectors. He was involved in the negotiations leading up to the Kigali Amendment as well as several other international agreements.

Topics addressed in this episode:

  • How Prof Hu got started investigating HFCs
  • Who needs to take action to reduce emissions of HFCs: chemical manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, consumers and repair/maintenance industry
  • Near-term strategies for reducing and recycling HFCs
  • Substitutes for HFCs (HFOs) - their costs, efficiencies, and timelines
  • What does it mean when your air conditioner breaks and the repair person says you need more refrigerant

For further reading:

Fuli Bai et al., “Pathway and Cost-Benefit Analysis to Achieve China's Zero Hydrofluorocarbon Emissions,” Environmental Science and Technology 57(16), April 2023, at https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c00166. 

Liya Guo et al., "Projected increases in emissions of high global warming potential fluorinated gases in China" Communications Earth & Environment, June 2023, at htttps://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00859-6. 

Lisha Liu et al., “Historical and projected HFC-410A emission from room air conditioning sector in China,” May 2019Atmospheric Environment 212(4), May 2019, at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.05.022.

Feng Hao, "Chinese manufacturers under pressure to phase out HFCs," China Dialogue, 28 November 2016, at https://chinadialogue.net/en/pollution/9426-chinese-manufacturers-under-pressure-to-phase-out-hfcs/. 

Some useful acronyms:

HFCs: Hydrofluorocarbons (replacement for CFCs but a dangerous greenhouse gas and hence targeted for reduction under the Kigali Amendment)

HCFCs: hydrochlorofluorocarbons (an ozone-depleting refrigerant)

CFCs: Chlorofluorocarbons (ozone-depleting refrigerant phased out by the original Montreal Protocol)

HFOs: Hydrofluoolefins (current and future substitute for HFCs)

UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme, pronounced "you-nep"

EPA: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency