China Legal & Regulation~
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China’s ESG rules approach maturity after 20 years
China’s first policy on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance reporting – the Announcement on Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure – was issued by China’s State Environmental Protection Administration in 2003. It encouraged and supported enterprises to disclose environment-related information. Twenty years later, in December 2023, the State Council released its Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Construction of a Beautiful… Continue reading
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China commits to strengthening controls on illegal building to protect farmland
Chinese authorities have committed to tough measures to safeguard arable land by releasing case studies involving the confiscation and disposal of illegal buildings and structures. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) and the Ministry of Natural Resources have published four typical cases from Sichuan, Guangxi, Hebei, and Heilongjiang. An SPP official noted that removing illegal buildings… Continue reading
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China draws extensive ecological red lines to protect Asia’s “water tower”
China’s Qinghai Province has drawn ecological “red lines” for over 40 percent of its territory, putting the areas under stringent environmental protection. Located on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China’s northwestern province is known for its fragile ecosystem and for being home to the Sanjiangyuan area, where the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang rivers originate. Lancang is known… Continue reading
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China releases comprehensive policy document on green transformation
On August 11, 2024 the Chinese government released the Opinions on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development. (《关于加快经济社会发展全面绿色转型的意见》). According to the Xinhua report, this is the first time at the central government level that a systematic deployment has been made to accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.… Continue reading
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China now country with most Natural World Heritage sites
New Chinese inclusions in World Heritage List known for ‘valuable, vulnerable ecosystems’. After around seven years of preparation, China’s Badain Jaran Desert – Towers of Sand and Lakes has finally been included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Another addition to the list is the Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the coast of the Yellow Sea –… Continue reading
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China holds polluters liable to restore environment
Restorative justice approach adopted to enhance ecological governance. China has adopted a restorative justice approach to handling environmental pollution cases as part of efforts to enhance its ecological governance system, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said on Monday August 5, 2024. In the first half of this year, 1,597 individuals were prosecuted in 668 cases for… Continue reading
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China: huge spending to modernize network to cope with green energy surge
China plans to invest over $800 billion in its electricity grid over the next six years to support its green energy transition. The distribution grid is currently a significant bottleneck, with rapid renewable energy growth putting strain on the system. This year, China invested 122.9 billion RMB ($17 billion) in grid projects, a 24.9% increase… Continue reading
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China’s biodiversity pledge
Cover photo: Oriental white storks fly over the Caofeidian wetland in Tangshan, north China’s Hebei Province. /Xinhua From species to ecosystem: China’s conservation commitment for biodiversity and human well-being. Jiang Zhigang is professor in Conservation Biology at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. His work mainly focuses on inventory, red list assessment, and conservation of… Continue reading
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China Cuts Persistent Organic Pollutants
China’s efforts to control organic pollutants wins recognition from foreign ecological experts. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that persist in the environment, accumulate through the food chain and have the potential for long-range environmental transport, posing risks to human health and the environment. Examples involve certain pesticides, industrial chemicals and unintentional by-products of… Continue reading
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Hong Kong’s new enviro-tech hub plan
The Hong Kong special administrative region has considered a plan to build a proposed innovation and technology (I&T) hub, known as the San Tin Technopole in Yuen Longan, near the border with mainland China and Shenzen. Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department has given approval to the environmental study into a plan to turn fish ponds in the northern New… Continue reading
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China air cleaner as NOx levels fall
A recent study published in the journal Environmental Science and Ecotechnology has revealed a significant decline in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from human activities in China since 2020. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) form aerosols and ozone in the atmosphere and are significant contributors to air pollution, acid rain and climate change. The research was conducted by… Continue reading
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China’s new Energy Law close to adoption
The latest draft of China’s long-awaited Energy Law has been issued for public comment following approval by China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC). This was stated in an analysis of the text by economic newswire Jiemian. The law, which was initially drafted in 2005, will be “considered at three [NPCSC] meetings… Continue reading
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China’s Tree Planting Policy
Why does China seem insatiable with trees? In this article Beijing Channel looks at a piece of long-running Chinese policy – it’s decades-long quest to re-forest the country. Before diving into the details, here’s some statistics to show how serious, and successful China has been about planting trees: Now let’s retrace China’s steps and see… Continue reading
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Major global environmental treaties US won’t ratify
Published 2021/08/23 Most of the world’s countries support these global agreements on conservation and pollution. China has ratified each of them, but the United States of America refuses In one of his first acts after taking power US, President Biden signed an executive order to have the United States rejoin the Paris climate agreement. This… Continue reading
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China nurtures green factories
China announces new measures on the phased nurturing and management of green factories On January 30, 2024, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued new measures on the phased nurturing and management of green factories, which came into effect immediately. These measures set out criteria and steps to nurture green factories. A green factory refers… Continue reading
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China: climate change legislation
China needs to speed up climate change legislation, says NPC deputy A national legislator has called for legislation tackling climate change to be accelerated to help achieve the country’s ambitious climate targets. The legislation and the establishment of a legal system for reducing carbon emissions are an urgent necessity for the country to achieve its… Continue reading
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Push to globalize China’s seed industry
Beijing’s pledge to keep China’s “rice bowl” firmly in the hands of its people has been backed with numerous actions, including the protection of arable land, expansion of farming acreage and more widespread use of technology. The South China Morning Post points out that seed industry is deemed to be “strategic and fundamental”, and the… Continue reading
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China government ecological work report
Key points related to ecological civilization in Chinese government 2024 work report Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a government work report on behalf of the State Council at the opening meeting of the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress on Tuesday morning, March 5,2024. China’s annual “two sessions,” a highly anticipated event on the… Continue reading
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Clear targets for realizing Beautiful China
In the first weeks of this year, China’s central government issued a policy document clarifying what is meant by building a “Beautiful China” (2024 Guidelines to comprehensively promote the development of a Beautiful China), which set out a broad range of environmental targets through 2035 and even beyond. In a recent article for China Daily Global, Dimitri de… Continue reading
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Prof Pan Jiahua on China’s zero-carbon future
COP28, the UN Climate summit, was held from 30 November to 13 December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Carbon Brief’s Anika Patel spoke with Professor Pan Jiahua, vice-chair of the national expert panel on climate change of China, about his ideas for how to move to a zero-carbon future. Professor Pan Jiahua is also a… Continue reading
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China’s carbon trading regulations released
China’s top administrative body, the State Council, has issued regulations to manage its emissions trading system (ETS). They include much stricter sanctions for companies that fraudulently understate their emissions. Published by the State Council on 4 February, they are the first administrative regulations for the national ETS, and will be implemented from 1 May, reports… Continue reading
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China acts on solar and wind waste recycling
China Sets Up Recycling System for Aging Wind Turbines and Solar Panels to Tackle Growing Waste in Renewable Industry Wind and solar resources are unlimited given by nature, but equipment components generating energy from the resources have a finite lifespan. As older projects are replaced and decommissioned, waste volumes are set to soar, with large… Continue reading
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China outlines 2024 environment goals
China’s environment minister outlines goals for 2024 On 23 January, China’s ecology and environment minister Huang Runqiu outlined his department’s achievements in 2023 and priorities for 2024, in a 20,000 character-long (or approximately 14,000 word-long) speech. In the following, Carbon Brief translates and summarizes some of his key talking points. The speech was delivered at the… Continue reading
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Nature conservation – China’s approach
Ecological redlines – China is undergoing a great experiment — tightly controlled and driven by big data — that it hop es will offer an alternative way of protecting the planet. In an effort that often goes unnoticed, China’s leadership is pushing further to build what Jessica Gordon of the University of California, Berkeley’s Center… Continue reading
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China: 100 carbon-peaking pilot projects
China to conduct carbon-peaking pilot projects in 100 cities and zones. On October 20, 2023, China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) published the “National carbon-peaking pilot construction plan” based on the requirements of the “Action plan for carbon dioxide peaking before 2030”. The National Carbon Peak Pilot Construction Plan is… Continue reading
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China’s marine plastic waste initiative
China’s Blue Circle environmental initiative gives new solution to marine plastic waste. If plastic waste is dumped into the sea, it will gradually break down into microplastics, exerting continuous and permanent adverse impacts on the environment. How can plastic waste be recycled and turned into useful resources? The Blue Circle environmental initiative, a marine plastic… Continue reading
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Re-use of EV batteries in China
Sustainable recycling and recovery of EV batteries in China. The proper recycling and recovery of EV batteries have become even more crucial as demand for lithium (Li-ion) batteries has increased alongside the growing adoption of EV vehicles. Data shows that the global scale of Li-ion battery recycling is projected to rise from $1.5 billion in… Continue reading
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China’s Environmental Law
China’s system of environmental legislation is established based on the Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China that was enacted in 1989. Under this law, other separate laws have been enacted for controlling pollution. Some of these laws are as follows: China updated the Environmental Protection Law in 2015. This was the first… Continue reading
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Xi on building eco-civilization
“Several pairs of relations need to be well handled in promoting the construction of ecological civilization.” Ying Xue, on the China Ecological Civilization substack blog, has summarised an important article by Xi Jinping, published on the Qiushi magazine on November 16. Qiushi is run by the CPC central committee. It publishes articles demonstrating policies and guiding the direction… Continue reading
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Foreign meteorological spy sites
Hundreds of foreign meteorological spy sites discovered in China. Revelations regarding the illegal collection and cross-border transmission of meteorological data shows that in the era of globalization, countries are becoming more closely connected. Many aspects, including environmental climate, as well as energy and resources, have also become important fields related to national security in many… Continue reading
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Protecting China’s ‘unofficial’ wetlands
Damage done to a wetland in the name of “environmental restoration” raises questions about how China’s lesser-known wetlands are protected. The coastal wetlands on the Linhong estuary, by the Yellow Sea in Lianyungang municipality, provide an important feeding ground and stopover for waterbirds migrating between East Asia and Australia. But in 2021, an “environmental restoration”… Continue reading
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China protects special regions
Laws for the ecological protection of special regions In late April 2023 China’s top legislature adopted a law to protect the fragile ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This is the latest of China’s environmental laws for 4 key ecological regions. The first of be enacted was the Yangtze River Protection Law, followed by the Yellow… Continue reading
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Nancy Pelosi — Janus of the West
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus presided over war and peace and was usually depicted as having two faces. The gates of a building in Rome named after him – an open enclosure with gates at each end – were opened in time of war. The following article was first published by Anthony M Leong on Medium, and… Continue reading
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China solves difficult environmental issues through central inspections
China recently wrapped up a new round of central environmental inspections. In recent years, a number of environmental problems of strong public concern have been addressed through the inspections. The recently completed inspections were the sixth batch of second round of central environmental inspections. In recent years, a number of environmental problems of strong public… Continue reading
