• woodrow wilson center
  • ecsp

New Security Beat

Subscribe:
  • mail-to
  • Who We Are
  • Topics
    • Population
    • Environment
    • Security
    • Health
    • Development
  • Columns
    • China Environment Forum
    • Choke Point
    • Dot-Mom
    • Navigating the Poles
    • New Security Broadcast
    • Reading Radar
  • Multimedia
    • Water Stories (Podcast Series)
    • Backdraft (Podcast Series)
    • Tracking the Energy Titans (Interactive)
  • Films
    • Water, Conflict, and Peacebuilding (Animated Short)
    • Paving the Way (Ethiopia)
    • Broken Landscape (India)
    • Scaling the Mountain (Nepal)
    • Healthy People, Healthy Environment (Tanzania)
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Contact Us

NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
China Environment Forum

The China Environment Forum is the Wilson Center’s platform for convening policy, business, research, and NGO practitioners on the most pressing environment and energy issues facing China.

Our posts on New Security Beat explore the environmental footprint of China’s domestic and overseas investments, U.S. and China climate action and clean energy competition, and how China and Southeast Asia can close the loop on plastic waste.

Follow CEF on Facebook and Twitter

  • Biodegradable Plastic in Chinese and U.S. Agriculture: Hero or Villain?

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  July 28, 2022  //  By Karen Mancl

    Agriculture,,Field,,Mulch,Film,Biodegradable,Plastic

    Biodegradable plastic mulch seems like a dream come true for organic farming. Its use eliminates the need for herbicides and pesticides, conserves water, extends the growing season, and allows for the harvesting of clean fruits and vegetables. This mulch also lightens the load of farmers. Rather than assuming the expense and labor to gather up and haul plastic mulch to a landfill, farmers can till biodegradable mulch safely back into the soil. Yet these benefits will only be realized if biodegradable mulch films are 100 percent degradable by microbes in nature, and if they break down to carbon dioxide, water, and minerals without damaging the soil. 

    MORE
  • Greenhouse Plastic Boom Blights Vietnam’s Vegetable Basket

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  Guest Contributor  //  June 30, 2022  //  By Govi Snell & Thinh Doan
    1 Large flower-filled greenhouse in Dalat. Each flower is wrapped in plastic nets to maintain the flowers' shape.

    Cam Ly landfill was, until it was shut down in 2020, the primary dumping ground for the city of Dalat. A hilltop locale 5 kilometers from central Dalat, the landfill was the final destination for the majority of plastic used in agriculture in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region. But in August 2019, heavy rain prompted an outpouring of trash, sending plastic sheeting from greenhouses and untreated agrichemical bags and bottles rushing downhill. The incident covered lowland farms in thousands of metric tons of waste.

    MORE
  • Plastic River: Following the Waste That’s Choking the Chao Phraya

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  Guest Contributor  //  June 16, 2022  //  By Wanpen Pajai & Mailee Osten-Tan (Photographer)
    illustration of plastic waste flowing through the river, courtesy of Neutron T / The Third Pole.

    This article is a collaboration between The Third Pole and the China Environment Forum’s Turning the Tide on Plastic Waste in Asia initiative. Read more plastic pollution articles and webinars from the Wilson Center here. This article will be cross-posted on The Third Pole.

    The Chao Phraya River is born from mountain streams in northern Thailand, flowing hundreds of kilometers south to the sea. By the time the river travels through Bangkok and empties into the Gulf of Thailand, it is carrying huge quantities of plastic waste – an estimated 4,000 metric tons every year, equal to the weight of 26 blue whales. The plastic clogs the river along its course, drastically impacting communities and the waterway’s ecology.

    The Third Pole traveled from the Chao Phraya’s beginnings to the sea to explore what’s happening to one of Southeast Asia’s most important rivers.

    MORE
  • Chile’s Conundrum: Will Saving a Desert Hinder Global Energy Transition?

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  Guest Contributor  //  June 9, 2022  //  By Vince Beiser
    SQM plant tour2

    Cristina Dorador has decided that science is not enough. The Chilean microbiologist’s decades of research have convinced her that the unique ecosystem of her country’s Atacama desert is threatened by ever-expanding lithium mines. She has spent years trying to convince the nation’s leaders to protect the place, with little success.

    Now, she’s seizing a historic opportunity: Her election to Chile’s constitutional assembly in 2021 has given Dorador a chance to try to change not only Chile’s lithium industry, but the country’s whole approach to natural resources. But will her endeavor have broader implications for the worldwide shift to renewable energy?

    MORE
  • The Ukraine War’s Shadow on China’s Road to Decarbonization

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  Guest Contributor  //  May 26, 2022  //  By Jeremy L. Wallace
    Aerial view of big factory in China.Air pollution by smoke coming out of chimneys

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shaken the world economy.  The U.S.-led push for sanctions on Russia has surprised analysts with its depth. Germany, for example, is now turning away from four decades of reliance on Russian oil and gas. Given Russia’s status as a global energy colossus, the war has raised particular uncertainty in global energy markets, leading many countries to take steps to ensure adequate supplies.

    China’s energy connection to the crisis and, specifically, the war’s effect on China’s decarbonization commitments, have drawn little attention. Unfortunately, the war’s impact on energy markets has accelerated Chinese plans to return to the use of coal for power generation. And the market volatility it has inflamed is partly behind China’s return to investment-and emissions-heavy stimulus. Make no mistake, however, China’s investments in renewables are still enormous and dwarf those of the United States.

    MORE
  • How plastic is fueling a hidden climate crisis in Southeast Asia

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  Guest Contributor  //  May 19, 2022  //  By Lou del Bello
    Ocean plastic illustration_Neutron T_2560px

    This article is a collaboration between China Dialogue and the China Environment Forum’s Turning the Tide on Plastic Waste in Asia initiative. Read more plastic pollution articles and webinars from the Wilson Center here.

    With sea level rise and ecological collapse threatening its environment and the very existence of its main coastal cities, Southeast Asia is one of the regions most at risk from the impacts of climate change. But while countries around the world step up efforts towards decarbonization and reaching their shared climate goals, carbon remains unchallenged – in the form of plastic – and firmly entrenched in Southeast Asia’s economy. 

    MORE
  • Microplastics in Soil – Small Size Big Impact on U.S. and Chinese Agriculture

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  Guest Contributor  //  April 28, 2022  //  By Karen Mancl
    farmers are planting sweet potato seeds in the fields in Hebei Province, China

    Collecting plastic fragments was a game he played while helping his parents farm when growing up in rural Shandong Province, says Dr. Zhao Kaiguang, who is now an associate professor of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University: “I wanted to collect the most, but did not realize the serious negative implications of leaving plastic in the soil.”

    MORE
  • Farming for Our Future: Climate-Neutral Agriculture in the United States and Beyond

    ›
    China Environment Forum  //  April 21, 2022  //  By Peter H. Lehner & Nathan A. Rosenberg
    women work in a field of lettuce

    The realities of climate change — including more frequent floods, droughts, wildfires, heat waves, and more — are becoming ever more visible in every country. Agricultural producers face immediate impacts from these weather events. A marked increased in the incidence of pests and more challenging working conditions further harm their ability to grow plants and raise animals to feed people.

    MORE
  Older Posts
View full site

Join the Conversation

  • RSS
  • subscribe
  • facebook
  • G+
  • twitter
  • iTunes
  • podomatic
  • youtube
Tweets by NewSecurityBeat

Trending Stories

  • unfccclogo1
  • Pop at COP: Population and Family Planning at the UN Climate Negotiations

Featured Media

Backdraft Podcast

play Backdraft
Podcasts

More »

What You're Saying

  • World Population Day Shines a Spotlight on Inequities
    george Denniston: When I was born in 1934, there were only 2 Billion people on earth. As I grew up, I watched it...
  • AGU_1959_photo1 Melting Ice Threatens to Expose Former U.S. Nuclear Base in Greenland
    Charles Diemont: And who is responsible for the cleanup of this debacle.? Ler the Americans clean up their own mess....
  • World Population Day Shines a Spotlight on Inequities
    Sam Sellers: Kathleen is quite right that World Population Day presents an important opportunity to reflect on...

What We’re Reading

More »
  • woodrow
  • ecsp
  • RSS Feed
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Wilson Center
  • Contact Us
  • Print Friendly Page

© Copyright 2007-2022. Environmental Change and Security Program.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. All rights reserved.

Developed by Vico Rock Media

Environmental Change and Security Program

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

  • One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
  • 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
  • Washington, DC 20004-3027

T 202-691-4000