Environment China Beijing Energy Network

In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast, we speak to Ruixin Li as part of our Young Professionals in Sustainability series. Ruixin currently works as the lead climate specialist at ICF International Consulting (Beijing). He has eight years of experience working on climate change issues and more than four years of experience implementing international cooperation projects. His focuses include carbon market, green finance, and sustainable aviation. Previously, Ruixin worked for Greenovation Hub and China Youth Climate Action Network. He has also assisted several international NGOs in climate communication and local climate action. Since 2014, he has been tracking international climate negotiations under the UNFCCC and witnessed the reach of the Paris Agreement and the Paris Rulebook. His negotiation tracking articles can be found in several media, such as China Economic Herald, Caixin Globus News, and Ming Pao.
This episode is in Chinese and is produced by our Executive Producer Xiaodan Yuan.
Support us on Patreon! 
https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina 

Today, we have a special cross-over episode with the podcast called Preparing for AI, which is hosted by Matt Cartwright and Jimmy Rhodes. The guest for this episode is Anders Hove, long-time host of the Environment China podcast, and Beijing-based Matt Cartwright interviews him about the impact of AI on the clean energy transition. Anders ‘references several points related to China, such as efforts to locate data centers in colder regions, and the results of experiments seeking to make data centers respond to the output of renewables. We hope you enjoy it!
You can read a full transcript of the episode on the Preparing for AI website here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2320704/14945514

In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast, we speak to Zhinan Chen as part of our Young Professionals in Sustainability series. Zhinan is a senior associate with Rocky Mountain Institute's India Program, based in Oakland, California, United States. She collaborates with national and state-level partners in India to accelerate the country’s transition to zero-emission trucking. At RMI, she also helped shape the concrete and cement initiative as one of the founding members, where she designed net-zero strategies for the global concrete and cement industry through thought leadership and stakeholder engagement. Zhinan has worked in the non-profit sector for four years, mainly covering heavy industry, transportation decarbonization in Asia, and US-China climate cooperation. Zhinan holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management from Yale University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Arabic and Economics from Peking University.


This episode is in Chinese and is produced by our Executive Producer Xiaodan Yuan.
 
Support our podcast on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina 

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 
 
 

In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast, we speak to Wen Yi as part of our Young Professionals in Sustainability series. Wen Yi is a doctoral graduate in Transportation Engineering from the University of Tennessee in the United States and a master's degree in statistics. He previously received a master's degree in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Wen Yi has been deeply involved in the environmental field since his undergraduate degree. During his PhD, Wenyi’s main research area was micro-mobility, especially the study of the impact of bike-sharing on the transportation system, environmental ecology, and personal health. 
Episode production: Joyce Yuan
Support Environment China on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina
 

This is an emergency podcast about the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis, which was released just a day ago. Top US and China climate negotiators Xie Zhenhua and John Kerry have held several days of talks at the Sunnylands estate near Palm Springs in California, and released this joint US-China statement in the lead-up to COP28 in Dubai.
Just a few months ago, Kerry had visited BJ to negotiate similar topics, and President Xi had used the occasion to emphasize that China would set its own path on climate, and not give in to pressure. So this joint statement comes as a bit of a positive surprise.
Topics we discuss:
The top highlights of the announcement, especially economy-wide emissions cuts and addressing all GHGs. The meaning of "meaningful post-peak reductions in power sector emissions." The importance of the phrasing around tripling renewable capacity. What this means (or doesn't mean) for global stock taking. How the issue of trade policy will play at the COP. China's potential contribution to loss and damage funds. Further reading: 
Li Shuo, "What Does China Want From COP28?" Asia Society Policy Institute, November 2023, at https://asiasociety.org/policy-institute/what-does-china-want-cop28. 
This episode was produced by Anders Hove.
Contribute to our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/EnvironmentChina