-
China’s EV Power Grid-lock: A Coin Toss for Decarbonization?
›Usually, Ms. Li charges her BYD electric car at a TELD station during her half-hour lunch break. However, today was different – it took an extra ten minutes to complete the charging, providing her time to enjoy a cup of coffee. This slight delay was due to her participation in a Shanghai demand response pilot designed to encourage consumers to adjust electricity usage according to electricity grid conditions. Like a coin toss, this pilot could be a big win for protecting the grid and accelerating low-carbon transport in China, but many infrastructure obstacles could derail this decarbonization.
-
Is Health Financing Gender Biased?
›We take for granted the way health programs are financed—and often forget that there are biases in financing functions that undermine equitable access to health care.
For instance, through gender advances, women now decide on contraceptive use and childbearing. Yet the health financing related to those services tends to emphasize improving efficiency and optimizing resources, without necessarily aligning its objectives with gender equity or inclusivity.
-
A Commune in Rural Iowa Inspires Reform in China’s Countryside
›China Environment Forum // Cool Agriculture // Guest Contributor // January 18, 2024 // By Karen ManclA quiet agricultural community in east, central Iowa is a surprising place to learn about the evolution of communes in the United States. While a graduate student at Iowa State University, I first visited the Amana Colonies in 1979. The brick homes, the woolen mill, and the community kitchens were first built in 1855 by a group of German immigrants, forming the now oldest commune in the country.
-
AI in Community Care: Can Co-design Shift the Balance in Maternal Mortality?
›We face a global crisis of maternal mortality that extends to untenable disparities within the United States. Yet too often, the populations most affected by such health disparities are sidelined in the creation of solutions to address them.
-
Make Room for Development Diplomats!
›Tracking signs and signals is one of the hallmarks of foresight professionals. They are always on the prowl for novel products and technologies that promise to change the world. Sustainable aviation fuel made from biomass or non-biological sources like CO2 is one innovation on their radar. The increasingly popular generative AI technology is another, especially since its proponents claim it will revolutionize early disease detection, unleash new forms of creative arts, transform engineering, and reshape architecture.
-
Is the Chinese Market Hungry for Carbon-Neutral Beef?
›Days before Brazilian President da Silva Feb visited China in late March 2022, China resumed its beef imports from Brazil after a temporary ban due to an earlier discovery of Mad Cow Disease. Brazil quickly bounced back as the top exporter of beef to China, a country hungry for it. With the continuous growth of China’s economy, population, urbanization, and increasing income levels, there has been an increased demand for high-protein foods. Among these, beef has become a highly sought-after delicacy. Since 2012, China has transitioned from a net exporter to a net importer of beef, primarily relying on countries like Brazil.
-
Before the Flood: Lessons from Attempts to Predict Displacement
›Severe flooding is a major cause of human displacement. According to the latest annual report by the International Displacement Monitoring Centre, around 61 million people were forced to move within their country of residence during 2022 due to conflict or disasters. More than one quarter of these—19.2 million people—were displaced by floods.
-
“Radioactive Fish” and Geopolitics: Economic Coercion and China-Japan Relations
›On the same day Japan began wastewater releases from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in late August 2023, the website of China’s customs agency announced the country would “completely suspend the import of aquatic products originating from Japan.”
Showing posts from category Guest Contributor.