08
Dec 2008 - Developed world countries with
the reputation of being green technology
leaders are falling behind in the huge new
market for green goods and services opening
up in China.
Prepared to ride the
Green Dragon?, a new report from WWF, estimates
that companies with environment friendly
solutions are looking at market possibilities
ranging from between USD$1.5 (€1.1) and
USD$1.9 (€1.4) trillion to be invested in
China in the period up to 2020.
The massive investments
planned in environmental technology will
make China a hub for development of the
low cost environmental solutions necessary
in a 21st century where environmental constraints
will increasingly guide the global economy,
notes the report.
“Western entrepreneurs
and stakeholders with access to green solutions
now have an unprecedented opportunity to
invest in and grow with the expanding Chinese
market, and thereby position themselves
for an emerging, new global economy” said
Børge Brende, Managing Director of
the World Economic Forum, and vice-chair
of The China Council (CCICED).
But a case study of
Norway shows that the Western rhetoric of
green investing in China is outpacing the
reality,
“In spite of high goals
for environmental cooperation with China,
Norway‘s current engagement is fragmented
and dominated by small and medium-sized
enterprises. OECD countries need to scale
up and aim for ambitious partnerships with
China in fields where they have leading
green technology;” said Rasmus Reinvang
of WWF Norway, lead author of the report.
The Chinese government
has set ambitious targets to move towards
a clean-energy economy, including a 20%
reduction in energy intensity by 2010, and
a doubling of renewable energy to 15 % by
2015. China is particularly keen on developing
its small-scale hydropower capacity, a market
open to foreign investment, from 2006 levels
of 40 Gigawatts (GW) to 125 GW by 2020.
The Chinese goal to
quintuple wind power production to 30 GW
by 2020 will be reached already by 2012
with the current growth rates in the Chinese
wind power sector. While global renewable
energy investments have been falling due
to the credit crunch, investments in China
are expected to increase this quarter to
US$3.5 billion and further strengthening
China’s wind sector.
”Deep sea off-shore
wind is an area where Sino-Norwegian cooperation
could speed up commercialization of a whole
new industry and contribute greatly to tackling
global warming.” Said Chen Dongmei, head
of the Climate and Energy programme for
WWF in China.
+ More
Students press Nepalese
president on environment
08 Dec 2008 - Kathmandu,
Nepal - Students in Nepal delivered 126,229
signatures to the country's president, Dr
Ram Baran Yadav, urging him to include environmental
laws in the constitution.
The signatures, collected
by students from the Shuklaphanta Wildlife
Reserve Buffer Zone in western Nepal, were
presented on 601 metres of cloth, representing
the 601 assembly members who are currently
drafting a new constitution for Nepal after
the country was declared a federal democratic
republic earlier this year.
“Nepal is now poised
for a major socio-political and economic
change after decades of conflict and injustice,"
said President Yadav.
"The impacts of
years of neglect, disregard and exploitation
of natural resources have created tremendous
pressures and imbalance in our fragile ecological
systems. The time has now come to join hands
in working towards correcting it.”
The students also handed
over a 12-point appeal to the president,
which asks all political parties to commit
to biodiversity conservation, particularly
increased protection for endangered species
such as rhinos and tigers.
In addition, the appeal
asks the government to take initiatives
that would see Nepal build a tri-national
agreement with India and China to control
illegal wildlife trade across their shared
borders.
The signature campaign
was coordinated by the Shuklaphanta Eco
Network (SEN) with support from WWF-Nepal.
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal
‘Prachanda' was among the signatories.
