Environment China

Latest Episodes:

China's Climate Path Amid Trade Tensions and Global Expectations Jul 03, 2025

Show notes

In today's episode of Environment China, we're doing something a little bit different, cross-posting a recording of a panel hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute's China Climate Hub. This panel discussion explores China's latest emission trends, clean energy deployment, relationship with the global south, position at COP30, and impact of the U.S.-China trade war on the global energy transition.

The speakers are Kate Logan, director of China Climate Hub at Asia Society Policy Institute; Lauri Myllyvirta, non-resident senior fellow of China Climate Hub at Asia Society Policy Institute; and Anders Hove, senior research fellow at Oxford Institute for Energy Studies' China Programme. Asia Society Policy Institute's China Climate Hub Director Li Shuo moderates the conversation.

The original recording may be found in video format on YouTube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZWFTO2lO9w&t=1139s

China Energy Transformation Outlook - Kaare Sandholt Mar 23, 2025

Show notes

In this episode of Environment China, we are talking about China's long-term pathway to carbon neutrality and, in particular, about the recent publication of the China Energy Transformation Outlook, or CETO, which provides two scenarios of China's clean energy transition. We talk to Kaare Sandholt, International Chief Expert for the China Energy Transformation Programme. The programme is run by the Energy Research Institute of the NDRC.

Topics we address include:

The importance of long-term modeling, and its contribution compared to five-year plans or other policy planning
How CETO's two main scenarios compare: both assume carbon neutrality by 2060 and similar GDP growth, but differ in terms of energy mix and technology progress
The role of electrification and energy efficiency: starting with transport, but also in industry, which requires both a cleaner grid and lower direct combustion of fossil fuels, which wastes huge amounts of energy through waste heat
The importance of structural economic transformation: CETO assumes China makes substantial progress transitioning away from heavy manufacturing
The reforms that CETO anticipates, including especially in power markets (merit-order dispatch, cross-regional electricity trading, and price signals), but also in carbon markets and industry standards
The role of gas: gas will rise rapidly in relative terms, with 50-50 growth between power sector and industry; in coastal provinces gas is for flexibility in the power sector, and inland provinces gas is for industry; but it will not become a major transition fuel that takes the place of coal
The amount of wind and solar capacity that will be needed: while the RE capacity requirement has risen due to faster electricity demand growth, the annual additions needed are roughly in line with present wind and solar additions

The report is available in English here:

https://www.cet.energy/

And Kaare Sandholt has an excellent article in a recent issue of Carbon Brief, published together with Wang Zhongying:

https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-china-will-need-10000gw-of-wind-and-solar-by-2060/

Executive Producer of this episode: Anders Hove

Can China Reduce Emissions by 30% by 2035? - with Belinda Schäpe of CREA Dec 07, 2024

Show notes

According to a recent report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), by sustaining its current expansion rate of renewable energy, China could cut 30% of power sector emissions & increase non-fossil energy share to over 40%. This would require renewable capacity of 5,000 GW by 2035 (roughly 3x current renewable capacity, or 4x current wind and solar capacity) and halting approvals of all new unabated coal power plants. CREA's report argues these goals can only be achieved through robust national targets, such as through the forthcoming Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets.

In this podcast, we speak with CREA's Belinda Schäpe about the details of this analysis, which was reported on in detail in Reuters, Bloomberg, and AFP.

Belinda is a China Policy Analyst with the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) where she analysis China's decarbonisation journey and advises policymakers on their diplomatic engagement with China. Previously, Belinda worked on climate diplomacy with China at the climate change think tank E3G, at the European Commission, Dialogue Earth, and a number of organisation working on economic cooperation between Europe and China. Belinda holds a double master's degree in International Affairs from the London School of Economics and Peking University and a bachelor's degree in Chinese Studies and Business Administration from Tübingen University.

The full report from CREA is available here:

https://energyandcleanair.org/publication/chinas-clean-energy-trends-could-cut-emissions-by-30-in-2035-if-sustained/

(Repost for missing audio) Comparing offshore wind in China and Norway - with Erlend Ek Sep 13, 2024

Show notes

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.)

Young Professionals in Sustainability - Maggie Yao (in Chinese) Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast, we speak to Maggie Yao. Maggie is a Senior Consultant at CCaSS EY Netherlands, primarily focusing on EU environmental policy, ESG due diligence, ESG strategy, and CSRD implementation. Prior to EY, she worked as an Associate at RMI China, where she conducted research on coal transition, renewable energy integration and system impact, and power market analysis. She also worked as a Senior Analyst for Coho Climate Advisors, a DC-based energy consulting firm and an ERM Group company. There, she engaged with multiple corporate and industrial companies to help them procure large-scale renewable energy in the United States. Maggie obtained her Bachelor's degree in Political Economy from UC Berkeley, and her Master's degrees from Yale School of the Environment and Johns Hopkins University. This episode is in Chinese and is produced by our Executive Producer 袁小丹 Yuan Xiaodan (Joyce)

Young Professionals in Sustainability - UB Qiu (in Chinese) May 28, 2024

Show notes

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

Young Professionals in Sustainability: Ruixin Li (in Chinese) May 09, 2024

Show notes

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

Energy and AI: with Anders Hove of BEN and OIES Apr 28, 2024

Show notes

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

Young Professionals in Sustainability - Zhinan Chen, RMI (in Chinese) Apr 07, 2024

Show notes

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

Corporate climate disclosure in China - with Erica Downs, Ned Downie, and Yushan Lou Feb 14, 2024

Show notes

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

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected