Environment China

Beijing Energy Network
Podcast de 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.

  1. 13 SEPT

    (Repost for missing audio) Comparing offshore wind in China and Norway - with Erlend Ek

    Dear listeners, we hope you missed us during the long summer break! Now, we're back, and hope you'll join us again for another in-depth episode dealing with a rapidly expanding element of China's energy transition: offshore wind. Today, we’re talking about China’s offshore wind sector and how it compares to the strategies pursued by Western countries, typified perhaps by the example of Norway. Our guest is longtime Beijing Energy Network member Erlend Ek, who was posted to Beijing and lived in China for over 15 years. He is now senior research strategy and energy lead with China Policy. Erlend has over this time headed a long list of commissioned research projects across a diverse range of topics, including China’s industrial development, trade policy, regional economic coordination, and the economic zones system. His master's thesis is entitled: "China and Norway: who leads in offshore wind energy and why? A study in motivation." Key points addressed in the podcast: How China's offshore wind industry started out, and how it compares to the rest of the world. (It started late, but is now largest in the world by far.) How China's offshore wind compares technologically. (China has mastered almost the complete supply chain, but so far mainly competes for domestic projects.) The role of policy versus markets in China in offshore wind. Erlend points out that the Chinese state plays an important coordinating role, and a very active role in setting objectives, but relies heavily on the market for efficient outcomes within that context. How China's strategy differs from that of Norway and other countries more focused on "technology neutral" or "low cost" approaches to the energy transition. The two main critiques of China's energy transition and whether they are valid: (1) that subsidies have declining effectiveness and rising costs, meaning they are ultimately unsustainable in bringing about a transition and overly costly, and (2) that the private sector is inherently better at deciding where society should invest than the public sector or policy makers. How China localized the wind industry and whether its criticisms of industrial policies in Europe make sense. Whether other countries can compete with China in these fields, even with the best policies, given its scale and other advantages. Episode produced by: Anders Hove (This episode is a re-post of yesterday's episode, which was missing around 1 minute of content towards the end.)

    34 min
  2. 11 SEPT

    Comparing offshore wind in China and Norway - with Erlend Ek

    Dear listeners, we hope you missed us during the long summer break! Now, we're back, and hope you'll join us again for another in-depth episode dealing with a rapidly expanding element of China's energy transition: offshore wind. Today, we’re talking about China’s offshore wind sector and how it compares to the strategies pursued by Western countries, typified perhaps by the example of Norway. Our guest is longtime Beijing Energy Network member Erlend Ek, who was posted to Beijing and lived in China for over 15 years. He is now senior research strategy and energy lead with China Policy. Erlend has over this time headed a long list of commissioned research projects across a diverse range of topics, including China’s industrial development, trade policy, regional economic coordination, and the economic zones system. His master's thesis is entitled: "China and Norway: who leads in offshore wind energy and why? A study in motivation." Key points addressed in the podcast: How China's offshore wind industry started out, and how it compares to the rest of the world. (It started late, but is now largest in the world by far.) How China's offshore wind compares technologically. (China has mastered almost the complete supply chain, but so far mainly competes for domestic projects.) The role of policy versus markets in China in offshore wind. Erlend points out that the Chinese state plays an important coordinating role, and a very active role in setting objectives, but relies heavily on the market for efficient outcomes within that context. How China's strategy differs from that of Norway and other countries more focused on "technology neutral" or "low cost" approaches to the energy transition. The two main critiques of China's energy transition and whether they are valid: (1) that subsidies have declining effectiveness and rising costs, meaning they are ultimately unsustainable in bringing about a transition and overly costly, and (2) that the private sector is inherently better at deciding where society should invest than the public sector or policy makers. How China localized the wind industry and whether its criticisms of industrial policies in Europe make sense. Whether other countries can compete with China in these fields, even with the best policies, given its scale and other advantages. Episode produced by: Anders Hove

    34 min
  3. 28 MAY

    Young Professionals in Sustainability - UB Qiu (in Chinese)

    In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast series on Young Professionals in Sustainability, we speak to UB Qiu. UB is a sustainability professional with diverse, international, cross-sector experiences, including in ESG consulting, in-house corporate sustainability, partnership development at a plant-based protein startup, and multiple internships and projects at climate-tech startups/social enterprises in the U.S., China, Kenya, and India. Additionally, she was part of Antler's inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence cohort in Saudi Arabia in 2023. UB holds a Master's Degree in Environmental Management from Yale University and a B.S. in Psychology and Environmental Policy from the College of William and Mary. She was an honoree of GreenBiz 30 Under 30 in 2021.   This episode is in Chinese and is produced by our Executive Producer Xiaodan Yuan.   在环境中国最新一期的环境能源可持续圈打工人系列播客中,我们邀请到了邱洋圣菁 UB —— UB 在可持续发展领域拥有多年的国际化经验,特别是在 ESG 咨询和企业可持续发展管理领域。她也曾在一家植物蛋白初创企业负责企业的合作伙伴拓展。过去两年,她在肯尼亚、印度、及中美参与多个气候科技创业公司、社会企业和碳金融方面的实习和研究项目。2023年底,她入驻新加坡早期创投资本公司 Antler 在沙特阿拉伯的首个驻场创业项目。UB 拥有耶鲁大学的环境管理硕士,及威廉玛丽学院的心理学和环境政策学士。播客文字版记录请查看北京能源网络公众号。   播客制作人:袁小丹

    44 min
  4. 14 FEB

    Corporate climate disclosure in China - with Erica Downs, Ned Downie, and Yushan Lou

    Today's episode looks at the complex topic of corporate climate disclosures. Our guests today are Erica Downs, Ned Downie, and Lou Yushan. They are the authors of a recent report, published by the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), entitled “China’s Climate Disclosure Regime: How Regulations, Politics, and Investors Shape Corporate Climate Reporting.” Erica Downs is senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University; Edmund Downie is PhD Candidate in Public Affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs; and Yushan Lou is Research Associate at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. In the podcast we discuss: How disclosures on ESG and carbon emissions differ in Hong Kong versus the mainland, and for listed versus unlisted firms The differing incentives SOEs have for making public climate disclosures The value of such disclosures for policy, given that policy-makers have so many other command-and-control instruments on climate policy and ways of obtaining emissions or climate-related information from the largest emitters The ways investors can and do influence Chinese firms, including SOEs, to improve climate disclosures For further reading: Edmund Downie, Erica Downs, Yushan Lou, “China’s Climate Disclosure Regime: How Regulations, Politics, and Investors Shape Corporate Climate Reporting," Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy, 29 November 2023, at https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/publications/chinas-climate-disclosure-regime-how-regulations-politics-and-investors-shape-corporate-climate-reporting/. Edmund Downie, Erica Downs, Yushan Lou, "Better disclosure rules can help China’s financial markets work for the climate," China Dialogue, 4 January 2024, at https://chinadialogue.net/en/climate/better-disclosure-rules-can-help-chinas-financial-markets-work-for-the-climate/.  Episode produced by: Anders Hove Buy us a nice chocolate chip cookie on our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina

    34 min

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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.

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