(Image via TaylorFrancis.org)

The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai welcomes Taylor Francis, the youngest presenter trained by Al Gore for The Climate Project, a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading awareness about the climate crisis.

Francis, who has been featured in the New York Times and TIME magazine, will be discussing climate change and global warming at an upcoming AmCham event as a guest of China’s newly created Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Environmental Committee
Date:     Tuesday, June 10, 2008 17:00 to 19:00
Venue:     The Regent Shanghai 1116 Yan An West Road (near cnr Fan Yu Road)
?????????? ????1116? (????)
Cost:     Members (RMB): 150.00
Non Members (RMB): 250.00

All students will be admitted free of charge.

(Image via BBC News)

• “China quake toll ‘to top 50,000′“
  BBC News
  May 15, 2008

More than 50,000 people may have died in the earthquake that devastated parts of China on Monday, state media say.

The warning came after the government confirmed the death toll had risen to 19,500, as rescue efforts continue to search for thousands still trapped.

About 10 million people across Sichuan province have been directly affected by the 7.9 quake, the media said.

 confirmed the death toll had risen to 19,500, as rescue efforts continue to search for thousands still trapped.

About 10 million people across Sichuan province have been directly affected by the 7.9 quake, the media said.

=====

I received an email from the Chinese Internet Research listserv, too. Rebecca MacKinnon, co-founder of GlobalVoicesOnline.org and blogger at RConversation.com, encourages everyone to make donations for earthquake relief.

As the Chinese people deal with the trauma of the worst earthquake
since Tangshan, it is time for our community - many if not most of
whom have built livelihoods based on our China experience and
knowledge - to help out.

Please make a public pledge of your support for the Chinese people by
going to this link on Pledgebank:
http://www.pledgebank.com/chinaquake

After making your pledge, please go right away to one of the websites
linked on the site (or to some other charity of your choice) and make
a donation. If you would like to suggest other websites where people
can donate online to the Chinese quake victims, please click on the
“comments” section and post the web link and/or any other information
you’d like others to know concerning donations.

Feel free to forward this email to anybody you want.

Thanks.
Rebecca

Rebecca MacKinnon
Assistant Professor, Journalism & Media Studies Ctr.
University of Hong Kong (http://jmsc.hku.hk)
E-mail: rmack@hku.hk | Tel: +852-2219-4005
Blog: RConversation.com
Co-founder: GlobalVoicesOnline.org
“The world is talking. Are you listening?”

=====

Also, the American Chamber in Shanghai posted some more information on how to make donations. Click here.

=====

See my previous post here about more disaster relief organizations that need your help.

(Image via  Small Worlds Magazine)

We are all bombarded with information about our “footprint” and how big and bad it is. But what exactly are we supposed to be doing with this information in China, a country where “green” can be few and far between?

Two groups, Shanghai Roots & Shoots and SCMC, a Coca-Cola vendor, are working together to reduce Shanghai’s carbon footprint by planting the right kind of trees in the right kind of places. “Tree planting” is based on the idea that trees can reduce the threat of global warming because they basically suck up carbon and other greenhouse gases (GHG) in the air. While no one is pretending that you can plant trees and negate your impact on the earth, it is an example of what China can do to acknowledge its environmental impact and make a quantitative change. Shanghai Roots & Shoots raises money and awareness for the tree planting program and then purchases trees from a nursery in Inner Mongolia. The organization plants pine and poplar trees, which scientists and biologists have certified as appropriate for the area.

The trees benefit the earth in the following ways:

• rehabilitate the eco-system in the area
• stop desertification
• help alleviate local poverty

The Shanghai Roots & Shoots tree planting program is responsible for guaranteeing that local farmers are supplied with seedlings and that they are then responsible for re-planting the trees they cut down, after 20 years, in order to guarantee there is a new tree in its place for up to a 50 year period.

In April, SCMC sponsored two trips involving a total of 28 Shanghaiers, who planted more than 2,000 poplar trees in the Kulunqi desert. As one SCMC rep said, “Coca-Cola Bottlers Manufacturing Co Ltd is…addressing environmental concerns on multiple fronts - holding back desertification, carbon offsetting, sustainable local economic rejuvenation that compliments the environmental objectives and finally environmental education.” In one corner of China at least, tree planting is firmly on the CSR menu.

For more information about the Roots & Shoots program, please visit www.jgi-shanghai.org.

Photo via British Council

It seems the British Council these days is busy cultivating youth climate change leaders in China.

This past Saturday evening at the Bookworm Chengdu, a cultural events center in central Chengdu, several youth ambassadors spoke to an audience of largely grade school students on climate change action, as well as their own involvement in an international climate change conference in London this March.

The International Climate Champions, organized by the British Council, consists of 38 youth ambassadors from 13 countries, including China. The project is targeted at 12- to 18-year-olds, which, according to the program’s site, are a “persuasive global generation, [one that] can network very effectively, and are skilled at engaging with other young people and the wider public.”

Wang Yifei, of Sichuan, is the Chongqing Climate Champion, one of the initiative’s three China youth ambassadors. He spoke on the recent conference, where he gave a presentation on the decrease of diversity in Sichuan due to climate change, using giant pandas as an example. The Beijing ambassador gave a presentation on weather change, including snowcap melting in Inner Mongolia.

The Chinese delegation offered the following as an option for the “Kobe Challenge,” which will be presented to environment ministers at the G8 Environment Ministers Conference in Kobe, Japan this May: “Climate change is the problem and our generation is changing to become the solution.”

The trip included a visit to 10 Downing Street, an interview with BBC and a meeting led by Hillary Benn, the UK’s Secretary of State for Environmental Affairs.

Wang expressed confidence in young people’s ability to deal successfully with the climate change problem, citing education of the country’s current youth generation and a “positive attitude” as integral to success. Citing the UK’s official target to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2050, he was unperturbed.

“I think China can do much better than that,” he said, before a receptive audience, most of whom appeared to be younger than him.

The discussion also mentioned the British Council’s “Climate Cool” initiative, which “aims to raise awareness of climate change and encourage participants to take individual action to reduce the impact of climate change.”

Judging by a survey referred to on the Climate Cool site, Wang’s confidence may need to come along with some serious alteration of current Chinese youth sentiments.

The survey, performed through China Youth Daily and based on 2,500 questionnaires involving nearly 10,000 participants, shows that “80 percent of surveyed youths indicated their concerns on the climate change and related disasters.” In particular, they cited rising sea levels and subsequent reduction in land area and the potential for “some coastal cities and islands to disappear” as causes of concern.

However, “there would be strong resistance if people were asked to sacrifice their current living standards for the sake of sustainable consumption,” cited by the Climate Cool site.

According to the survey, approximately two thirds of participants still “indicated a willingness to purchase a car within their financial capabilities,” even though “most had noticed the negative effects of automobile exhausts on urban air pollution.”

General young Chinese attitudes, the survey found, are lagging well behind their older counterparts. According to the survey, while 76% of adults surveyed “have a positive attitude to saving energy,” only 34% of under-18s had similar attitudes.

–

Additional Info:

Climate Cool Initiative focuses on ways to reduce carbon emissions and energy use through three main ways:

1. distribution of media for educational purposes
2. reducing consumption and change lifestyle through innovative ways, including using renewable materials within society
3. taking action on campuses.

It also provides training that teaches students how to measure their school’s carbon footprint, perform an environmental audit of their school and how to mobilize teachers and fellow students by demonstrating the impacts of climate change.

In this edition of the ResponsibleChina Show, I talk to Dermot O’Gorman of WWF China’s Go For Gold campaign, an initiative that that encourages Olympic athletes, National Olympic Committees, and individual tourists to offset the carbon emissions from their air travel to Beijing for this summer’s Olympic Games.

Listen to the podcast: 04-responsiblechina_-dermot-ogorman-wwf-china-and-_go-for-gold_.mp3

(Music credit: “Fresh,” by MadMaxXB from Garageband.)

To learn more about Go For Gold, visit the official site here.

On March 27th, 2007, WWF began a global campaign urging Olympic athletes to “Go for Gold.” That is, to donate the equivalent cost of the carbon emissions from their flights to meet the Gold Standard– or equivalent – offsetting projects. These include wind turbines in Madagascar, solar power projects in Costa Rica, biomass projects in India, and other energy efficiency initiatives. It is expected that China projects will begin soon.

By signing on, as individual athletes or an entire Olympic delegation, participants can become a member of the global team in the race against climate change. Even before the Olympic Games commence, these team members will already be taking home the gold for their efforts in offsetting their carbon emissions. WWF recommends the use of the following sales points for Olympic athletes and travelers to calculate their carbon emissions and to select offset projects:

www.climatefriendly.com
www.myclimate.org
www.atmosfair.de
www.nativeenergy.com
www.tricoronagreen.com

======

Bio: DERMOT O’GORMAN, Country Representative, WWF China

Dermot joined WWF in May 1998. During this time he has worked as the Deputy Director, Asia Pacific Programme for WWF International in Switzerland, was the Regional Representative of WWF South Pacific Programme for 3 years, based in Fiji and as the Head of Government and Aid Agency relationships at WWF-UK in London. He currently is the Country Representative of WWF China, based in Beijing. Prior to joining WWF, Dermot worked with Government Environmental Agencies in Australia and England. including the the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Serive and the England Countryside Commission. He has two degrees in Environmental Conservation and an masters in Environmental Policy and Assessment from the London School of Economics. Dermot is Australian, is married with no children.

Background: WWF and WWF China

Since it was founded in 1961, WWF has become one of the world’s largest and most effective independent organizations dedicated to the conservation of nature. WWF now operates in around 100 countries, supported by nearly 5,2 million people worldwide.WWF has been active in China on the conservation of giant panda and its habitats since 1980, when it was invited by Chinese government as the first international NGO to work on nature conservation. In 1996, WWF opened its Beijing office and then set up its presence in eight other cities across priority eco-regions in China. Today, WWF China Porgramme Office has a staff of more than 80 working on conservation programmes, such as species, forests, freshwater and marine, climate and energy, education for sustainable development, wildlife trade and scientific development and international policy.Since 1996, WWF has invested more than 320 million yuan (USD 40 million) in over 100 projects in China.

(Photo courtesy of The Library Project)

A letter from Tom Stader of The Library Project, an initiative that has helped establish 20 libraries in rural elementary schools throughout China.

“Over the past three months The Library Project created twenty libraries in rural elementary schools throughout China. More than thirty thousand books were donated with each school receiving a wide range of high quality children’s books including: history, science, short stories, fairy tales, reference books and comics. We also provided a full set of children’s encyclopedias for older students and pinyin language books for the kids beginning to learn to read. The Library Project also provided colorful child-safe tables and chairs, posters and a world globe to all the classrooms and library rooms.

These fabulous new libraries are located throughout China in the countrysides of Xi’an, Yanliang, Dalian, Lvshun, Jinan, and Changchun. At each site, The Library Project held book drives, which collected over twenty thousand quality second-hand books from local donors. We also purchased over ten thousand first-hand books from Xin Hua Books Stores at just $1 a book.

In addition to books and supplies, the school librarians received training on how to manage their new library. Since most rural elementary schools have never had a single book in their library for children to read, our Librarian Training Program gets them up to speed on day one.

….

We need your help.

There are three ways to get involved:

Help by spreading the word. You can forward this newsletter to your friends, family members and coworkers. Make a post on your MySpace page, blog to help raise awareness for The Library Project, or join our Facebook Group by clicking here. You can also host a small event at your home, work or at a local restaurant with a goal of raising enough money to provide fifty, two hundred or five hundred books for the children of a rural elementary school. If you need help organizing a fundraiser, please contact me anytime at tom@library-project.org. Thank you!

Help by volunteering. You can make a huge difference in the lives of countless children in the developing world by becoming a volunteer. There are so many different ways to volunteer: you can throw a wine tasting or dinner to introduce The Library Project to others, hang a poster above the water cooler at your office, or introduce us to your company’s HR Department.

Help by making a donation. Without money, we can’t buy books. At a dollar a book, most of us can afford to buy 10, 20 or even 100 books. Make a donation and help bring the gift of education to countless children. Our libraries generally contain about 500 - 1000 books, thus every donated book (or dollar) helps!”

Read the entire WINTER NEWSLETTER here.

You can also listen to this podcast from the China Business Network to learn more about the organization’s efforts.

I received a message from Xiaowei Su, the Project Coordinator for WWF China’s Go for Gold campaign, an initiative targeted at encouraging Olympic athletes, National Olympic committees (NOC), and individual tourists to offset the carbon emission from their Olympic air travel before the Beijing Games.

Please be sure to check out these Web sites, according to Su, if you’re interested in learning more or getting involved:

Our website is: wwfchina.org/greenolympics. This includes information on our new E-pledge for individuals to pledge to offset their air travel. This can be found here: http://wwfchina.org/greenolympics/e-pledge.shtm

And our latest press release can be found here: http://www.wwfchina.org/english/loca.php?loca=501
There is also exciting news about the first Gold Standard project in China which received approval on Jan 21st. It is a wind farm in Fujian Province. This news can be found here: http://cdm.ccchina.gov.cn/english/NewsInfo.asp?NewsId=2323

Stay tuned for an upcoming podcast episode about this program!

It’s 9:59 p.m. on October 15, 2007, so in my time zone, it’s still Blog Action Day, even though many of you reading this are already in tomorrow, on the other side of the world.

I’ve been busy refining my proposal for the Knight News Challenge, applying for new jobs (wanna hire me?), hanging out with new friends, and working 9-to-5, so I haven’t had much time to devote to blogging. But I’m finally back on track, so you can expect regular updates from now on.

I’m also editing a new podcast, so keep your eyes (and ears) open!

I thought it would be appropriate to post a “Responsible Round-Up” of China-related blogs participating in Blog Action Day, which aims to unite people around the world with a single cause: “to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment.”

If you come across any other Blog Action Day posts regarding China, please email me or leave a comment. Thanks!

• Groovy Green
  “Blog Action Day: Hu Says China To Go Green”
  

The leaders of China met every five years to organize the goals and efforts of that country. They’re doing so right now and President Hu has already made this statement. “We will increase spending on energy and the environment conservation with the focus on intensifying prevention and control of water, air and soil pollution… We will enhance our capacity to respond to climate change and make new contributions to protecting the global climate.”

• Pan Asian Biz
  “Blog Action Day - China Threatens Trade Suspension of Polluters”

China will ban trading by exporters who pollute. China is serious about doing the right thing when it comes to the environment…at least in the news. In practice…well, it remains to be seen.

• Deepest Health
  “Blog Action Day 2007 : Is Chinese medicine environmentally friendly?”

In this article, I’d like to suggest that Chinese medicine can easily be a strong part of the solution to our growing environmental problems while also mentioning one area in which Chinese medicine practitioners need to advocate for more ecologically friendly practices.

• Only In It For The Gold
  “About China, for Blog Action Day”

We will need the Chinese to participate in fixing our global problems, but the Chinese do not seem inclined to take sustainability seriously. The lengthy article is third in a series of five on China’s environmental crisis.

• Zhong Hua Rising
  “Blog Action Day: Save The Environment And Earth From Global Warming By Not Building Dams”

As you probably would (not) know, today is Blog Action Day. What this means is that some non-profit organization somewhere is giving me an opportunity, on this day, to lament about China’s eco-unfriendliness. This time around, instead of talking about Beijing and its smog, I’ll tell the story of Chongqing and the Three Gorges Dam.

[tags]Blog Action Day, China, environment[/tags]

(Image via China Digital Times)

Protests led by pro-democracy activists in Myanmar erupted in bloodshed and chaos last week as the military junta ordered riot police to crush the demonstrations. Buddhist monks who helped lead the protests have been bludgeoned, tortured and killed, according to some reports. It is the largest protest since the popular uprising in 1988, and some groups are referring to it as “Darfur in Slow Motion,” a tragic tagline borrowed from the genocide in Sudan, which is called “Rwanda in Slow Motion.”

According to the BBC:

On the worst day of violence, 27 September, the junta said nine people had been killed, but the death toll is thought to be far higher.

There have since been reports of thousands of arrests. Monks are said to have been rounded up and held in make-shift detention compounds to be transported to prison camps in the north.

The international community has called on China, specifically, to honor human rights in Burma and exert pressure on the military rulers to halt the violent crackdown.

• “China’s crucial role in Burma crisis“
  By Jonathan Marcus
  Diplomatic correspondent, BBC News, New York

The US and the EU have long imposed a variety of sanctions against Burma’s military regime but, paradoxically, this means that they have relatively few levers to pull to influence Rangoon.

The countries that matter more to Burma are India and Russia; both of whom have trading relations with the military regime.

Russia even plans to sell Burma a nuclear research reactor.

But it is Burma’s biggest neighbour, China, that plays the most crucial role, and as a permanent member of the UN Security Council it can help to limit the relative isolation that the Rangoon regime faces.

Both China and Russia, for that matter, vetoed a UN Security Council resolution last January that was critical of Burma’s rulers.

China has key strategic interests in the stability of Burma and accordingly strong ties with Rangoon….

Indeed, over time, as US and European ties to Burma have declined, those of China, Russia and India have increased.

China, then, is very much the key player; but Beijing faces conflicting pressures.

It has to match its energy and strategic interests - access to the Indian Ocean for example - with its desire for stability and its concern for its own reputation abroad, especially with the Beijing Olympics fast approaching.

Wednesday’s informal Security Council meeting served in part to gauge the Beijing government’s current position.

China’s UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, reaffirmed China’s predictable position that this crisis was not a threat to international peace and that sanctions would not be helpful.

Formal action is one thing. But might China’s concern with regional stability encourage Beijing to whisper some tough words in the Burmese leadership’s ear?

That is clearly what Western diplomats are hoping for.

In the short-term, sanctions may not have a great impact on Burma’s rulers.

But efforts are underway to impress upon them that there could be long-term consequences if the crisis spirals out of control.

Mother Jones was more critical in its coverage of China’s relationship with Burma’s oppressive regime:

In addition to the prominence of the clergy and the international attention, perhaps the most critical difference between now and ’88 is the role of China—Burma’s largest trading partner and, according to human-rights advocates, the military regime’s best friends. “China has provided the weapons and money to make this massacre happen while using its veto to paralyze any response from the UN Security Council,” says Jeremy Woodrum, co-founder of the US Campaign for Burma, which has advocated for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics next year.

Yet in the face of international demands to put pressure on the Burmese regime, China has insisted that its policy is non-interference. “China has remained silent on human rights in Burma,” says Matthew Smith with EarthRights International, an NGO with offices in Thailand and the United States. “Applying pressure on Burma would raise questions about its own record that China is not prepared to answer. And the country has an increasing demand for natural resources such as natural gas and timber, which the junta generously provides as long as China does not disrupt the brutal status quo.”

According to retired Indian army Maj. Gen Dipankar Banerjee, director of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in New Delhi, if human rights groups get traction with the argument that China “continues to support a dictatorial regime in its neighborhood and they can connect that to the 2008 Olympics, that will scare the shit out of Beijing.”

On September 30, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged Myanmar to seek a peaceful resolution to the protests, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Web site, reported Bloomberg.

Wen’s remarks came after nations, including the U.S, and the European Union pressed China, Myanmar’s closest ally, to use its influence.

“China hopes that all parties concerned in Myanmar show restraint, resume stability through peaceful means as soon as possible, promote domestic reconciliation and achieve democracy and development,” Wen said. “China is very concerned about the situation in Myanmar.”

For more on China’s stance on Myanmar, read Bernt Berger’s article, “Why China Has it Wrong in Myanmar,” in the Asia Times Online:

China’s stance on Myanmar is based on several misjudgments about the internal situation under the military regime and about Beijing’s own international role. In his recent speech to the United Nations Security Council, Chinese Ambassador to the UN Wang Guangya admitted to problems in Myanmar. Yet he also expressed Beijing’s belief that these problems did not constitute a threat to international peace and security and that in the current situation new Western-led sanctions against the regime were not useful….

Although China is not the only country engaged in Myanmar and should not carry sole responsibility for the emerging crisis, it is a member of the UN Security Council and thereby indirectly accountable for any actions that are, or are not, taken. In view of a regime that unscrupulously mistreats its citizens and spurns with impunity all standards of civility, Beijing clearly lacks a sense of urgency.

See the following from China Digital Times for an excellent compilation of related stories and other analysis:

• “China’s Role in Burma’s Crisis Under Global Scrutiny“
  China Digital Times
  September 29, 2007

======

(Image via Avaaz.org)

TAKE ACTION:

If you would like to sign a petition urging China “to oppose a violent crackdown on the demonstrators, and to support genuine reconciliation and democracy in Burma,” click here.

The petition is sponsored by Avaaz.org, an action campaign co-founded by Res Publica, a global civic advocacy group, and MoveOn.org, an online community that has pioneered internet advocacy in the United States.

We’ve all heard of Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund, but what are some other charitable organizations dedicated to environmental issues, specifically in China?

Here is a limited list of some of the best resources I’ve come across. Please add your comments below to alert ResponsibleChina readers to organizations that I may have missed.

International Fund for China’s Environment

The International Fund for China¡¯s Environment (IFCE) is an international environmental organization based in Washington DC, with branch offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan. Founded in 1996 by a group of scientists and professionals concerned with China’s environmental problems, IFCE aims to ensure a healthy global environment and continued economic development by helping China solve its environmental problems.

US-China Association for Environmental Education

Our mission is to help China achieve environmentally sustainable development by raising public environmental awareness and promoting public participation in environmental protection through media and community activities. We are working closely with our sister organization in China Global Village of Beijing to achieve this goal.

US-China Environmental Fund

USCEF is a project focused, non-membership organization. We consult with Chinese agencies and identify appropriate U.S. partners who have technical resources to contribute to resource management and educational challenges in China. Given its experience and history, USCEF is well suited to assist China through the promotion and management of strategic partnerships. This strategy provides not only resources for current priorities but also facilitates vision and initiative for the future.

Environmental Education Media Project

EEMP is a non-profit organization. Its mission includes producing as well as delivering environmental education materials to Asian countries. EEMP aims to raise the level of public awareness and appreciation of global and local environmental issues.

JGI China

JGI China focuses on the Roots & Shoots hands-on environmental and humanitarian education program for schoolchildren and university students; community conservation activities; awareness campaigns for wildlife protection; and sustainable development in rural areas.