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Guest Contributor
What’s in a Label? Lessons on Advancing Global Health Goals From Corporate Green Standards
As you walk through the supermarket, you’ve probably noticed labels like “Rainforest Alliance Certified,” “Fair Trade,” or “Green Seal.” These certifications were created to help consumers use their purchasing power to reward companies that treat workers fairly and limit their harm to the environment. What’s missing is health, particularly women’s health. Too often these standards focus narrowly on occupational safety rather than addressing broader, but relevant, health needs of workers.
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Dot-Mom
Moving Beyond Fertility Targets
We’re often told that we’re living during a population crisis, a time of simultaneous concerns born of too many people to sustain necessary resources for a healthy planet, and too few working-age people to support a healthy economy. Population dynamics and trends are key to national and international security and contribute to the overall wellbeing of a society. Fertility, along with mortality and migration, is central to population and its importance to demographers, policymakers, economists, and a country’s development is without question. But focusing on population trends without considering the experiences of the billions of individuals who make up those trends—each with a unique life course, personal aspirations, and individual potential—establishes an unhealthy and dangerous tension that can strip women of their rights and leave them socially disenfranchised.
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China Environment Forum // Cool Agriculture // Guest Contributor
Tackling Food Waste in China’s Restaurants
China Environment Forum // Cool Agriculture // Guest Contributor // May 2, 2024 // By Shiyang Li & Sam GrayBack in 2020, Shiyang Li at Rare visited restaurants across China to interview over 30 different owners and staff about the attitudes, beliefs, and everyday behaviors that contribute to food waste. Similar to global trends, food waste in China remains a significant challenge. A 2020 survey found restaurants in Chinese cities wasted at least 34 million tons of food every year, which can feed as many as 49 million people.
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China Environment Forum // Guest Contributor // Vulnerable Deltas
Green Collaboration: International NGOs and Chinese Partners Promoting Sustainable Overseas Investments
China Environment Forum // Guest Contributor // Vulnerable Deltas // April 11, 2024 // By Elizabeth Planton, Wendy Leutert & Austin StrangeIn March 2019, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration co-hosted two workshops on reducing wildlife trafficking in Kenya and Botswana. These workshops, supported by the Chinese embassies in Nairobi and Gaborone, attracted over 200 Chinese nationals working for state-owned or private companies in the two countries. During the workshops, the international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) and Chinese government officials expressed their shared goal of reducing the illegal trade of products from rare and endangered African species to China, one of the world’s largest markets for trafficked wildlife products.
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China Environment Forum // Vulnerable Deltas
Igniting a Reuse Revolution in China’s War Against Plastic Waste
Food takeaway has become a symbol of urban lifestyle convenience in China, but the resulting single-use plastic (SUP) waste has become a costly environmental and economic burden. In 2020, urbanites ordering on food delivery apps generated 37 billion SUP containers and a small fraction was recycled. According to a report by Pacific Environment, 88.5% of SUP waste in China is landfilled, incinerated, or leaked to the environment. Food and beverage packaging is the number one contributor to China’s SUPs.
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China Environment Forum // Cool Agriculture // Guest Contributor
Is the Chinese Market Hungry for Carbon-Neutral Beef?
Days before Brazilian President da Silva Feb visited China in late March 2023, 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.
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China Environment Forum // Guest Contributor
“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.”
Topics: Asia, China, China Environment Forum, conflict, consumption, economics, environment, foreign policy, geopolitics, Guest Contributor, Japan, Korea, meta, nuclear, oceans, pollution, water -
New Security Broadcast // The Arc (Podcast Series)
The Arc | Dr. Yvonne Su on Climate Migration, Equity, and Policy
In today’s episode of The Arc, ECSP’s Claire Doyle and Angus Soderberg interview Dr. Yvonne Su, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Equity Studies at York University in Toronto. Dr. Su challenges oversimplified portrayals of displacement by drawing out how socioeconomic status, identity, and timeframes shape experiences of migration. She also stresses the importance of involving marginalized communities in policy consultations and draws attention to local grassroots organizations as pivotal players in addressing the challenges of climate migration.