Environment, Biodiversity & Pollution~

Caring for China’s “water tower”

June 5, 2023 CEN_com 0

Sanjiangyuan bolsters biodiversity conservation efforts See Video: https://youtu.be/OweJqfjiEz4 Sanjiangyuan in Qinghai contains the headwaters of China’s three major rivers. China’s President Xi Jinping has consistently underlined the importance of preserving the area and has shown deep regard for its integrated ecological protection with improvements to local people’s livelihoods. The Sanjiangyuan area, located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is the most important source of fresh water in China. Home to the headwaters […]

China protects special regions

June 3, 2023 CEN_com 0

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 River Protection Law, the Black Soil Land Conservation Law, and now the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau Ecological […]

Climate change heat waves ‘new normal’ ?

May 20, 2023 CEN_com 0

It’s not a mirage. Across China, heat waves are becoming more frequent, lasting longer, and getting hotter — with deadly consequences. For more than a month, much of China has been blanketed by extreme heat. From June 16 to July 9, local governments issued 1,372 high-temperature “code reds,” indicating temperatures are expected to rise above 40 degrees Celsius within 24 hours. Nationally, 71 meteorological stations have reported record highs since the start […]

New Environmental History of Socialism

May 20, 2023 CEN_com 0

Review of: Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, Socialist States and the Environment: Lessons for Ecosocialist Futures (London: Pluto Press, 2021), 288 pages, $26.95, paperback. Review by associate professor Andy Bruno. Starting in the late 1970s, a narrative emerged about the extreme levels of environmental damage in the Soviet Union and, by implication, most state-socialist countries. The explosion and initial cover-up at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 did much to crystallize this image […]

A decade of rising forest cover in China

May 20, 2023 CEN_com 0

Originally posted 27 July 2022 Ten years is a short period of time in human history but diligent people, with the support of good governance, can create miracles in that short time. A veteran journalist with China Daily reviews the afforestation measures China has taken in the past decade to expand forest cover. Chinese leaders for decades have been participating in the annual tree planting activity in Beijing’s suburbs every […]

Rich nations must pay climate damages

May 15, 2023 CEN_com 0

At the UN climate summit in 2021 – COP26 in Glasgow – a group of largely developing nations representing six out of every seven people in the world called for developed countries to commit to pledging funds for loss and damage. However, this call faced opposition from large Western economies particularly the US and EU – and, ultimately, was rejected because of this opposition by the rich West.  The issue of loss and […]

China’s plan to clean up ‘new pollutants’

May 5, 2023 CEN_com 0

“This is a significant step forward for China’s chemical regime.” Liu Jianguo, Associate Professor, Peking University Hopes are high that a Chinese action plan will help control chemicals with ongoing harmful effects. In 2014, China declared a “war on pollution”. Since then, air quality has improved significantly, with nationwide levels of PM2.5 – harmful fine particles less than 2.5 micrometres wide – dropping by 58%. With the first campaign in that war […]

China’s new solar semi-satellite drone

September 13, 2022 CEN_com 0

In a big step toward green development, China has built its first solar-powered large unmanned aerial vehicle. The drone successfully carried out its maiden flight on Saturday. It took off from an airport in Yulin, northwest China’s Shaanxi province and landed smoothly after 26 minutes airborne with all systems operating normally, according to a report in state-run Global Times. How does the drone use solar energy? The Qimingxing-50 (Morning Star) is […]

China chairs Biodiversity Convention on

August 26, 2022 CEN_com 0

China currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). This is the first time China has overseen a major UN intergovernmental negotiation on the environment. The first meeting in the current round of Conference of Parties (COP15) of the CBD was officially opened by China in Kunming in October 2021, largely as an online event due to Covid-19, at which parties […]

China chairs Biodiversity Convention

August 26, 2022 CEN_com 0

China currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). This is the first time China has overseen a major UN intergovernmental negotiation on the environment. The first meeting in the current round of Conference of Parties (COP15) of the CBD was officially opened by China in Kunming in October 2021, largely as an online event due to Covid-19, at which parties […]