“Where is the tea?” I asked after our class had hiked through densely wooded hills for half an hour, looking around in confusion. I was among a team of Duke Kunshan University (DKU) graduate students led by Dr. Binbin Li to study tea crops grown in the tropical forests of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province. 

Indonesia produces more than half of the world’s nickel output – a critical component in batteries for four- and two-wheel electric vehicles (EVs). Mostly Chinese-owned smelters work around the clock in Sulawesi to process the nickel ore and ship it across the globe. Indonesia’s resource nationalism – the government policy banning ore exports and forcing domestic processing appears to have worked well – but only in the upstream segment of the supply chains.

Aviation is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions globally, contributing around 2.5% of total global CO₂ emissions. In China, aviation contributes about 12% of the nation’s transport-related emissions, making it a critical sector to address as the country aims for carbon neutrality by 2060. Despite ambitious global targets, international sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production is falling behind schedule. A recent report highlights that worldwide production could fall 30% to 45% short of the global aviation sector’s 2030 goals due to high production costs, economic uncertainty, and slow adoption rates.

China’s expanding global loan portfolio gives Beijing extraordinary economic and strategic leverage as it competes with the United States on technology, global supply chains, and critical rare minerals. Accurately determining its overseas investments (grants, loans, other financial instruments) however has long been a guessing game. Such Chinese data can’t be easily found in traditional international reporting systems like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI).  Chinese data can vary by source, much of which is hard to decipher as investments are displayed in the aggregate rather than by individual projects. Gaps in data and Chinese-language only publications present other obstacles to transparency. 

A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program

Race for Copper Damages Protected Region in Colombia (Mongabay)

As Colombia looks to meet the growing demand for strategic minerals, activists working in the department of Choco allege that the country’s only industrial copper mine is harming both the environment and a local community. The El Roble copper mine has operated since 1990 at the base of a valley crossed by the Atrato River, but its acquisition by Canadian multinational Atico Mining in 2013 has meant that daily production has doubled from 400 to 1,000 metric tons over the past 12 years. El Roble also lacks the environmental license required by Colombia’s Mining Code, and continues to operate under a less stringent 1987 environmental management plan, which activists say omits required environmental impact studies.

Ford’s CEO was so impressed by the Xiaomi SU7 that he now uses it as his daily driver. The Chinese-made electric vehicle (EV) has a 345 mile driving range on a single charge and costs just $30,000. There is nothing like it in the U.S.

In late 2023, Indonesia’s then President Joko Widodo presided over the launch of the country’s first floating solar power plant on the Cirata reservoir in West Java. Widodo touted how at 192MW it was “the largest floating solar plant in Southeast Asia.” He added the solar plant could eventually reach 500MW, generating enough electricity to power over 100,000 households in Indonesia. This floating powerhouse, made up of 300,000+ Chinese-built PV panels stretching 250 hectares on the water, has become the poster child for Indonesia’s commitment to going solar. 

The most persuasive argument for global EV adoption is the positive impact that these vehicles have for the environment. A scientific consensus has emerged around the benefits of electric vehicles and their zero tailpipe emissions, ranging from local air quality improvement to increased energy efficiency.