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.
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US Agricultural Success Built on US-China Scientific Exchange
›China Environment Forum // Cool Agriculture // Guest Contributor // December 5, 2024 // By Karen Mancl“History teaches that China and the United States gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation” was part of the congratulatory note from Xi Jinping to President-elect Trump. Xi also stressed both sides should continue to uphold “mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.” The cooperation between these two superpowers began in 1972 when President Richard Nixon and Premier Zhou Enlai signed the Shanghai Communiqué, years before they established diplomatic relations.
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Lights On or Off? Chinese Solar and Wind Companies in Sub-Saharan Africa
›Africa in Transition // China Environment Forum // Guest Contributor // November 21, 2024 // By Xiaokang XueWhen I stepped into the bustling exhibition hall at Enlit Africa in Cape Town in May 2024, I was surprised by the riot of colorful banners featuring Chinese characters. A whopping 40% of the exhibitors at one of Africa’s largest energy and power conferences in Cape Town from China—more than any other country.
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China’s Offshore Wind Blows Away the Competition, For Now: Q&A with Trivium China’s Cosimo Ries
›“The size and power output of China’s new offshore wind turbines are remarkable. We are talking about turbines almost 200 meters tall, with blades spanning the length of a football field. The amount of electricity they can generate is staggering.” enthused Cosimo Ries from Trivium China, who is a clear “fan” of offshore wind. And China’s turbines are getting bigger. The Dongfang Electric Corporation just rolled the world’s largest single-capacity offshore turbine (26MW) off the production line in Fujian Province this October.
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China’s First National Park: Managing Access and Benefits
›Bharal (Himalayan blue sheep) near Donggecuona Lake near Madoi are well camouflaged – look closely to find the nine in the photo.
As I hiked over the crest of a small hill near Donggecuona Lake in Madoi County, Qinghai Province, I startled a herd of over fifty bharal (Himalayan blue sheep) on the slope ahead of me. Some that were lying down suddenly scrambled to their feet. Others took a brief pause in their grazing to look up at me. I whispered to my guide Sonam Gyurme, “Look!”
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A Decade of Progress on Palm Oil Deforestation at Risk in Indonesia
›China Environment Forum // Guest Contributor // Vulnerable Deltas // October 24, 2024 // By Jason Jon Benedict & Robert HeilmayrIndonesia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil, an ingredient used globally in a huge variety of food and household products from peanut butter to shampoo. Yet it is also an important driver of deforestation and contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss. Over the past 20 years, the expansion of palm oil plantations has contributed one-third of the total loss of old-growth forests in Indonesia (around 3 million hectares).
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A Tipping Point for Mangrove Restoration and Shrimp Farming in Indonesia
›China Environment Forum // Guest Contributor // Vulnerable Deltas // October 17, 2024 // By Muhibar Sobary ArdanThe Mahakam River flows for 900 km from the highlands of central Borneo through thick rainforest before fanning into a lush delta that feeds the Makassar Strait. Once dense with mangroves and palms, the wetland islands protected coastal communities, supported biodiversity and served as a significant carbon sink.
However, in the 1980s, shrimp ponds began replacing the mangroves. By 2020, around half of the delta’s forests were lost due to weak regulatory enforcement and inadequate environmental protection. This large-scale deforestation increased the area’s vulnerability to climate change.
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Solving Vietnam’s Mangrove Mystery: Mekong Delta Living Lab
›China Environment Forum // Guest Contributor // Vulnerable Deltas // October 10, 2024 // By Lindsey SchwidderIn spring 2024, I travelled in the Mekong Delta with Vietnamese researchers to investigate the country’s dwindling mangroves.
One day while hiking along the coastline of Bac Liu Province in southern Vietnam, we came across the remains of a once-flourishing mangrove forest now littered by countless concrete blocks. My colleagues noted that the decades-long trend of disappearing mangroves here seemed to be unstoppable.
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Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Must Not Just Be More of the Same
›While standing on the banks of the Mahakam River in Samarinda on the island of Borneo, I watched an unending parade of coal barges sail slowly down the river. I was here in East Kalimantan to give a presentation at the Vulnerable Deltas Workshop—a joint project of the East-West Center and the Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum.