The Dialectics of Ecology: An Introduction

January 5, 2024 CEN_com 0

The following is the introduction to John Bellamy Foster, The Dialectics of Ecology: Society and Nature (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2024). All nature is in a perpetual state of flux.… There is nothing clearly defined in nature.… Everything is bound up with everything else. Denis Diderot1 As Harvard ecologist and Marxian theorist Richard Levins observed, “perhaps the first investigation of a complex object as a system was the masterwork of Karl Marx, Das […]

China targets 25% wastewater reuse by 2025

January 3, 2024 CEN_com 0

China’s water-scarce cities to reach 25% wastewater reuse by 2025. During the past decades of rapid development in wastewater treatment, China has accomplished the transition of wastewater treatment from underdevelopment to an industrial powerhouse. China accounts for 21% of the world’s population but only has 6% of the world’s freshwater resource, and it also has the largest amount of sewage discharge. Rapid urbanization and industrialization have created enormous challenges to […]

China’s marine plastic waste initiative

January 3, 2024 CEN_com 0

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 waste program launched in east China’s Zhejiang province, has given the answer to the question. […]

Indonesia wants China water investment

December 28, 2023 CEN_com 0

Indonesia invites China to invest in its water infrastructure projects Antara News reported on 11 September 2023 that Indonesia has invited China to invest in water infrastructure projects in Indonesia and in the development of the new national capital (IKN) Nusantara. The announcement was made on the sidelines of the 18th World Water Congress held in Beijing in September 2023. Indonesia’s Minister for technology, industry, and environment, Endra Saleh Atmawidjaja, […]

Include Forest Fires in Carbon Accounting

December 13, 2023 CEN_com 0

Chinese Scientists Call for Global Collaboration to Reduce Carbon Emissions by Preventing Forest Fires. As the UN COP28 Climate Change negotiations are underway in Dubai, countries are taking stock of how much carbon they are emitting into the atmosphere. On Thursday 7 Dec 2023, Chinese scientists published new research that suggests including emissions from forest fires into the accounting system. The report, “Blue Book on Forest Fire Carbon Emissions Research […]

Harmony between humanity and nature

December 9, 2023 CEN_com 0

Promoting Harmony Between Humanity and Nature in Modernization by Advancing the Beautiful China Initiative. The following article was written by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, and appeared in Qiushi Journal, a bi-monthly journal published by the CPC Central Committee. I. Innovations in Xi Jinping thought on ecological conservation In his speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection on July 17, 2023, President Xi Jinping summarized […]

China’s Environmental Law

November 30, 2023 CEN_com 0

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 major revisions. The revised law includes stricter punishments on polluters. It also allows non-governmental organizations […]

Xi on building eco-civilization

November 23, 2023 CEN_com 0

“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 of the party. So, this article of Xi Jinping is guidance on building China’s ecological […]

China’s massive leap forward

November 17, 2023 CEN_com 0

China’s emissions could peak this year! The following article is from the US. The first paragraph would be at home in any US anti-China rant. But read on, the author shows how the “China bad guy” theme is wearing thin in the face of undeniable facts. China is the climate elephant in the room. It is responsible for 29.2% of the world’s annual emissions, giving it the unwanted title of […]

Plastic pollution under spotlight

November 15, 2023 CEN_com 0

About 2,000 delegates from around the world are gathering in the Kenyan capital Nairobi for fresh talks on the landmark international treaty to combat plastic pollution. In December 2018, China’s State Council launched a plan to restrict the production, sale, and use of single-use plastic bags and tableware, and to expand the application of degradable plastic products. Under the initiative, the performance of enterprises in service industries such as hotels […]