Photo courtesy of Liz Voeller

My friend and Northwestern University classmate Liz Voeller is doing some really interesting research in Lijiang (southwestern China) to examine the impact of tourism on the Naxi people’s ancient water supply system, and how this relates to China’s development as a whole. It’s a fascinating look at the balance between culture and technology and its impact on the natural environment.

You have to check out Liz’s blog, Cultural Impacts on Infrastructure, to learn more. She says:

I want to know:

A. How did the Naxi DESIGN and USE their ancient supply system so that it successfully provided them with clean water for centuries?

B. How can these factors be REPRODUCED in new water supply projects–so that these new systems can better MEET the Naxi community’s needs?

Liz, who studies environmental engineering and cultural anthropology, struggles with some language barriers, which limits the depth of her ethnographic and scientific research, but she definitely has some great ideas and insightful questions. Her blog is  worth checking out if you’re interested in the cross-sections of modernization, environmentalism, tourism, natural resource management, and community development in China.

Steve Koon

Last March I connected with a global team from Kaospilot, a group of mostly Danish students from the international school of new business design and social innovation.

One of the projects they were developing during a three month stint in Shanghai focused on social innovation. I was sniffing their trail, tracking down the same social entrepreneurs to talk with about their work in China.  They saved me a lot of the brunt work by passing along their virtual Rolodex a.k.a. putting me in touch with some of the best and brightest social innovators they had come across in Shanghai.  Steve Koon was one of them.

Photo courtesy of Carla Fernandez

Steve, originally from Hong Kong, spent years working in the investment field before reorienting his career towards social responsibility.  While taking a class on social entrepreneurship at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Public Policy, Steve and some classmates were inspired to adapt the curriculum for classrooms in the developing world.  Hence AvanteChange was born. The organization puts students from the Philippines and Thailand in charge of engaging government officials and professionals to create socially responsible for-profits.  Steve invited me to sit in on the course he was teaching at Shanghai’s Fudan University which is, as far as he knows, the first formal class on mission-oriented business in Mainland China.

So one Sunday in May,  I headed out to Fudan to meet Steve, to learn more about his perspective on social enterprise in China and to sit in on the discussion with students as they fleshed out their own socially responsible business plans.

Twenty five undergraduate and graduate students trickled in to the lecture hall, taking a seat for the voluntary course that meets every other Sunday.  I later learned that participants were from many different academic departments, having heard the buzz of Steve’s course through friends and student groups on campus.  Steve entered with his wife and partner Sammi, and jumped right into things.

Steve began his lecture with an explanation of what a social enterprise exactly is,  offering a clear definition of a new concept to first-comers.  He differentiated  between a not-for-profit that depends on donations to operate and a social enterprise that has market-based mechanisms for generating a profit while being committed to a social mission.  After updating each other on the major donations made by CSR programs for relief efforts after the Sichuan earthquake and aftershocks (along with the political undertones of who gave how much and why), the students broke up into teams to resume conversations about their own schemes to start a social enterprise.

I jumped around, listening to and participating in some of the days discussions. Here are a few of the projects his students were developing:

• A dating service that organizes volunteer opportunities for singles,  covering costs of operation by charging an annual fee for subscribers of the service.   Not only would this help younger Shanghainese students meet a special someone, but it would provide volunteer coordination services and helping hands to needy NGOs in the city.

• A service that would help elderly people rent out their homes and relocate to an assisted living community, offering an additional source of income that could support their transition.

• A job placement Web site for not-for-profits, accessed by students who have recently graduated and are unsure about their career paths (or for those students who are sure they don’t want to enter the corporate world, but don’t know what their next step should be.)

When the class reconvened, student delegates from each team explained the progress that was made during the session and described their plan for the upcoming two weeks.  Steve listened carefully to the presentations, interjecting with bits of advice and reality checks that students quickly jotted down, taking to heart.  Steve started making connections between the different brain-children, joking about ways they could collaborate, encouraging each other to offer feedback and remarks.

The class ended with each group ready to move to the next phase, which included drafting a formal business plan.  Steve let his students know that he was recruiting for his own social enterprise, Ebay for Kids, and a group of open ears gathered around the chalkboard after class to hear their professor’s offer, all eager to learn from and work alongside Steve.

Steve is determined to see one of these ideas develop into a real-life case of social enterprise,  so that future semesters can have a go-to example of how effective students can be.  “My plan is to really focus on one of these projects, and see it happen, so that students have a success story to look up to. I hope to expand the class to over a hundred students, from different universities next fall.”

In the meantime, his Fudan students already see Steve as a role model.  While still hesitant to dive head first into an innately risky socially responsible start-up, they are inspired by the idea of improving their nation without having to sacrifice financial stability.  They see Steve and Sammi as a team to look up to.  One of his students that I chatted with on the way out confessed to me that his “parents would probably never let me take a job that wasn’t secure or traditional.  But Steve’s ideas ares so exciting, and can make so much money, that it is hard to turn down.”  Steve is not only planting the idea of social entrepreneurship in young, bright minds, but is offering the logistical support to make these ideas happen, a combination that will certainly be making waves in the near future.

To contact Steve, e-mail him at skoon[at]mac.com.

Sooooo, we added another one to the team!

Please welcome our newest contributor, Carla Fernandez, recently returned to New York City from Shanghai, where she was working as an intern with my sister Amena Schlaikjer at ?What If! Innovation Co. in Shanghai.

Stay tuned for her first post about social entrepreneurs, coming soon. Read more about her under “About Us.”

My name is Carla Fernandez, and I am a senior year undergraduate student at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Studies.  I am concentrating in “Human Development and Socially Responsible Supply Chains” through a blend of public policy, economics and social analysis courses.  I am originally from the coastal town of Monterey, California, an area known for its authors, its produce, and one knock-your-socks-off aquarium.

Excerpts from the July issue of the McKinsey Quarterly:

(Illustration via McKinsey Quarterly)

“Cleaner energy for China: An interview with the chairman of ENN Group”
By Michael Wang is a principal in McKinsey’s Shanghai office, where David Xu is a director.

July 2008

China has a reputation for relying on heavily polluting energy sources, such as coal. But efforts by innovative Chinese companies are under way to convert the country’s abundant coal supplies into sources of cleaner energy. One of these companies is the privately held ENN Group, better known in China for its subsidiary XinAo Gas, which is listed in Hong Kong. The chairman of ENN, Wang Yusuo, founded the company in 1989 as one of the country’s first natural-gas distributors; its debut project was piping gas to the city of Langfang, in Hebei Province. ENN, which now has more than 20,000 employees, supplies natural gas to more than 40 million people in nearly 70 cities in China and liquefied natural gas to filling stations in more than 20 Chinese cities.

The Quarterly: Why did you enter coal chemical engineering and clean energy?

China has an increasing need to develop clean-coal technologies, since the country is rich in coal and poor in oil and gas. Coal accounts for over 70 percent of China’s total energy consumption, but the use of coal in power plants has created serious environmental pollution because of high emissions of carbon dioxide, among other pollutants. In the 1960s, China pursued an energy strategy focused on oil and gas instead of coal. That made coal-based clean energy a huge business opportunity.

The Quarterly: How has ENN developed its clean-energy business in China?

Wang Yusuo: We have focused on three areas. First, through our subsidiary XinAo Gas, we distribute the clean energy produced by others. Second, we are involved in producing clean energy ourselves by building production bases for methanol in various parts of the country, usually close to coal-mining regions, and by rolling out dimethyl ether plants, which use methanol as the raw material. In addition, ENN established the world’s first commercial dimethyl ether filling station for buses, in Shanghai, in 2007. We’re also increasing our investment in solar energy. We imported a photovoltaic-module production line from the United States and expect to launch a new-generation product within two to three years.

Finally, we are aggressively pushing for the greater use of clean energy. In response to the Chinese government’s environmental policies, we’ve proposed an energy-saving and emission-reduction plan in an attempt to be the nation’s clean-energy service provider. This plan integrates biomass, solar, geothermal, and methane into a package for a given city’s households and businesses. The idea is that the city could benefit environmentally through the use of multiple energy sources.

Subscribe as a member to read the full article.

We’ve mentioned them before (thanks, Mark) in our post about social entrepreneurship in Sichaun, but in case you didn’t hear the first time around, Wokai.org is raising loan capital for microfinance institutions in China.

A big thank you to co-founders Courtney McColgan and Casey Wilson for referring to ResponsibleChina in their recent blog post at Wokai Adventures.

A message from Courtney:

Wokai [is] a non-profit dedicated to alleviating poverty in China one loan at a time. Wokai achieves this goal through a user-driven microfinance website that connects contributors around the world with borrowers in China. Users choose borrowers to support, watch repayments, and pick who to fund next. Users also consume and share user-rated and user-generated content on China microfinance. Through information and capital exchange, Wokai aims to grow the microfinance sector in China and increase opportunities for the poor.For more information, check out our website at www.wokai.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.

Big money, big change: General Electric pushes for environmental laws and revs up Ecomagination in China

The Wall Street Journal recently hosted a special event, ECO:nomics: Creating Environmental Capital, that focuses on a “CEO-level view of the rapidly developing relationship between the environment and the bottom line.” Program participant Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric, spoke on “The Environment and the Business of Business.”

The interview focused on why he believes in good old capitalism, in all its shades of green. Immelt is planning on greening his sizable pile of green bills mainly through Ecomagination and pushing for stricter climate change regulations. China is a key part of the Ecomagination plan to green and profit from the Olympics. In the long-term China and Ecomagination are planning a long-term relationship, also.

GE has received its fair share of attention for Ecomagination, a campaign lead by Immelt to promote sales of GE’s energy saving and creating technologies. Ecomagination is doing big, profitable business in China and the relationship is only growing.

Immelt is also lobbying the U.S. government for mandatory caps on carbon emissions. He helped form the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a group of corporations and environmental organizations “that have come together to call on the federal government to quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.” Stronger laws like the USCAP wants will weaken China’s argument that it doesn’t have to act because industrialized nations have not acted either. Also, stronger laws means businesses need to buy new technology, such as the technology that GE makes in China.

USCAP goals include encouraging innovation and fostering economic growth with green house gas policies, a cap-and-trade program, and research and technology.

Immelt makes a concise case for putting more money into green research and development.

I’m an investor, I’m a capitalist and I’m a businessman. So I believe that I could generate earnings for my investors through technology.

He is not alone in this stance. Some leaders, like Barack Obama, think Detroit could take a listen. Immelt keeps going, with what I think is a very strong logic.

There’s no percentage for any CEO in the world to run his or her business thinking that there are not going to be carbon caps someday. Because the day it becomes law, you’re five years late. And you either get out ahead of these things or you get stomped by them.

If the CEO of one of the world’s largest companies thinks that serious action on climate change is inevitable, the fight on Capital Hill maybe coming into the final rounds.

Of course, Capital Hill and politicians need to consider how other countries are legislating greenhouse gases, or GHG. China comes into this debate more than any other country because of its geo-political size, the size of its economy, and the size of its export business to the United States. Many politicians, including George Bush, refuse to move on GHG legislation before China does.

The WSJ reminded Immelt of this common argument by saying, “…we face extreme competition from emerging countries in Asia…” Fair enough. The obvious follow-up question asked is, “does it make sense for you to say, OK, in the U.S., we’re going to impose a cap on our businesses, but there’s going to be no such cap in China…?” Immelt answers:

What legislation will try to do, is to have some market-clearing mechanism for what’s going to happen globally. But, I’ve got to tell you that we’ll do, I don’t know, $15 billion, $16 billion of Ecomagination products this year. Probably $2 or $3 billion will go to China and India. So it’s a great opportunity for this country to develop technologies that are going to be used on a global basis.

Immelt also takes on another popular argument against action on climate change: it costs too much and will hurt the economy. He defends his position by saying,

Costs are going to be borne no matter what. I would say we’re actually already paying for it. $110 oil, we’re already paying for it. Costs are going to go up.

The question is do we get ahead of it and bring these [clean] technologies down the learning curve ahead of time, or does it just get thrust on us in an incredibly impossible way? And that’s what leaders have to decide.

The WSJ’s reporter made a legitimate point by asking:

Part of people’s business plans is to go to Washington and get legislation passed that requires people to buy their products. So one question I would have is how much of Ecomagination is actually underwritten by tax subsidies? And how, as a private investor, do you justify having public taxpayers get into this business?

Immelt defended his tax subsidies perfectly:

Government tax policy, or economic policy, ought to reflect the benefits to the economy and what the government wants to have happen.

Think about something like the production tax credit [which gives tax credits to alternative-energy companies]. One of the reasons the government wanted to use it was to get more renewable energy in place. We acquired our wind business in 2001. The cost for electricity and wind was about 16 cents, 17 cents a kilowatt-hour. Now it’s half that. The production tax credits worked.

Immelt, whose business is international, is thinking about GHG regulation internationally. He knows that he stands to benefit from regulations in the U.S., specifically boosting his production and sales in China. Not afraid to get out ahead of China on these laws, Immelt is betting China will eventually have to follow if the U.S. leads. Can Immelt and his CEO friends push the U.S. out of the blame game with China over global warming? Can we get past finger-pointing and make money for global companies in the process? Ecomagine that.

Immelt talks more about Washington here, and tree-huggers like Grist.org support him here.

Click on the links below for more stories related to global green business and Jeffrey Immelt’s interview:

• Gristmill: “ECO:nomics: Immelt vs. the ideologues”
• The Santa Barbara Independent: “Execs, Politicos, Journos, Enviros Talk Eco-Trends at Bacara“
• Green Tech Media: “Bottom Line for Green Initiatives: Good or Bad?

And here are some other corporate members of the USCAP alliance:

• Duke Energy
• Dupont
• Ford
• General Motors
• Johnson and Jonson
• The Dow Chemical Company
• to name a very few of many.

And also coming to the party are the following environmental organizations:

• The Natural Resources Defense Council
• The Nature Conservancy
• World Resource Institute
• National Wildlife Federation
• and there are more of this type too.

Christopher C. Pinney, director of executive education for the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, recently wrote about his CSR-focused trip to China, in “Why China Will Define the Future Corporate Citizenship.” He argues that China needs to continue to embrace corporate social responsibility to solve some of the biggest problems facing the country and the world, both social and environmental.

He emphasizes that if CSR is going to do all the wonderful things we know it can, its going have to be in China’s own style.

The challenge now is defining a “made in China” approach to corporate citizenship that respects the norms and values that underpin Chinese society while at the same time addressing global expectations and values.

He defines CSR as much deeper than greening China-based supply chains that big cooperations like Wal-Mart do, but acknowledges that this is going to happen China’s way.

He continues with a very optimistic view of China’s interest in CSR.

The government, business, and academic leaders we have met with recognize that the immense social, environmental, and economic challenges facing the country cannot be solved by government alone and will require the active participation of the rapidly growing domestic private sector and the foreign funded enterprises operating in China.

(I would be interested to learn more about specific examples he encountered on his trip).

He sites China’s economic and population numbers to explain the effects China’s participation in sustainability, or lack their of, could have on international scale.

With almost 21% of the world’s population (1.3 billion people) the sheer scale of the Chinese development model can be difficult to comprehend. It will build 500 coal-fired power plants in the next decade; at the rate of almost one a week.

While there are plenty of very true and impressive statistics like this, Pinney does not acknowledge China’s already established and growing power on the international stage over issues like climate change, environmental protection, labor rights, and human rights. Pointing out China’s geo-political muscle could strengthen Pinney’s argument that the morals China attaches to its business are going to affect us all, for generations to come.

He continues by noting what China is doing to compete in the international market:

To position China to compete in the global economy, leading business schools there are already making English the language of instruction and China will need to build 800 universities by 2015 to keep up with demand.

A fair enough point, but again I would point to China’s already accumulated power. Perhaps an equally relevant statistic would be the increasing number of native English and Spanish speaking children all learning Chinese in schools.

He continues noting “the flip side of this rapid growth” is a list of ills including:

• slavery
• toxic rivers
• air pollution
• a growing gap between the rich and the poor

Pinney flows on with the solutions China’s government is offering for these problems, focusing on the central government’s “harmonious society” theme and accompanying legislation, including, but not limited to:

• Increasing per capita income levels
• Creating more employment opportunities
• Improving the social security system and alleviating poverty
• Raising income levels and living standards in rural and urban areas
• Boosting the quality of housing, transport, public health, and the environment

Harmonious society legislation, in short, creates and keeps a stable society and country. That means addressing environmental issues brought on by China’s rapid development. Pinney continues:

Under the broad rubric of building a harmonious society, the national government and many regional governments are working to create an “enabling” environment that encourages voluntary initiatives by business that address the social, environmental and economic interests of the entire country.

In general, the idea of a harmonious society as a policy framework shifts the focus of development from centralized control to greater participation and multi-stakeholder involvement, and from a premium on economic growth to overall societal balance, including environmental stability and social equality.

It is true that the propaganda is shifting from pure emphasis on economic growth to an overall balance.

Though I think Pinney goes too far by calling it a “shift away from centralized control to greater participation and multi-stakeholder involvement.” At least, I would like to learn more about cases that substantiate this claim. Factory owners and businesses make their improvements at the “urging” tone the central government sets and stay well within their themes, as they should.

Pinney does hit on one of the big problems around here, one the central government readily acknowledges:

One of the current problems faced by governments, local and national, is while often there are laws in place, there are many problems with compliance and enforcement. Interpretation of laws is also often left up to regional governments.

He continues on by marking China’s development and improvement in this area:

To try and address these issues the national government introduced an amended company law in 2006 that expands on the social responsibilities of companies. It provides that a company, in conducting its business, must not only abide by the law, but also observe industry ethics, strengthen the development of the socialist spiritual civilization, and subject itself to supervision by the government and the public.

A new labor contract law (LCL) that took effect January 1, 2008, created in response to rising social unrest and income inequality, requires that all firms of more than 25 people allow unions and ensures some basic labor rights for employees.

In addition to these legal measures it seems like every ministry has some form of corporate citizenship or CSR initiative underway, but there is often little coordination between them. The National Development Research Council of the State Council of the PRC, a key policy body, has more recently taken a proactive interest in coordination of information on CSR initiatives as well as training.

These are tangible actions. Though I don’t think these are examples of moving away from central control to anything like a popular people’s movement. Quite the opposite, in fact, if we use the examples he gives above.

Luckily for all of us, whether decentralized or not, there are CSR movements beyond government initiatives. Pinney details “independent” business initiatives, academic programs and schools, and management and communication consultancies working to promote and support corporate citizenship in China. An example of this type of organization is the Chinese Committee for Corporate Citizenship and the China Business Council for Sustainable Development.

A private sector initiative he draws attention to is the Chinese Federation for Corporate Social Responsibility (CFCSR), which is interesting for its Western-Eastern mix of companies. It focuses on:

• best practices in CSR in China
• encouraging and promoting CSR
• supporting their members in their CSR and charity efforts.
• partnerships with Western companies operating in China, including IBM and CISCO

Pinney ends on a positive note, commenting on the energetic vibe you can pick up while traveling in China and musing at its economic wonders. He concludes, “Just as China launched its path to economic development in 1980, it is now determined to ensure that the benefits of economic development are shared by all Chinese, and is committed to making corporate citizenship a powerful tool for enlisting the support of the business sector.” China’s central government is taking its own steps, to its own beat. Regardless of what you think of their progress, private CSR initiatives are making improvements to lives and environments in China.

We’ve added another person to our team!

My name is Sophia Mendelsohn, which the Chinese translate into “Su Fei.”

I am living in Shanghai and have been for three years. Each year we watch as the city grows increasingly international, but becomes a little grayer up above our heads. It is no doubt that you can see the pollution building in our city. There are other positive changes, too, though, like the new advertisements in the subway stations reminding us to use fewer plastic bags.

Before SH, I lived in Kunming, China (all the way South) and Harbin, China (all the way North). I still have a soft spot in my heart for Harbin. How could you not for a place where they BBQ outside all Siberian-winter long and keep their ice cream frozen in snow banks instead of freezers?

I have traveled quite a bit in Asia, and although my career belongs to China, my favorite country to travel to has been India. I recently volunteered there with a non-profit organization that helps eradicate slave labor in the silk industry. One of their creative CSR ideas was to sell the “clean” silk to guided tours and other trappings of the booming tourist industry in the area. The money was fed back to support education and micro-loans for the workers.

I work in export and manufacturing and spend a fair amount of time in factories outside of major cities in China. Everyday I see opportunities for us to save on costs and reduce waste, without stopping progress. My previous job was in corporate communications where my favorite projects always had to do with CSR and sustainability. The power consumers have to move these things forward cannot be underestimated. Remember: you are the customer.

I speak, read and write Chinese at an extremely advanced level and majored in East Asian Studies in university in America. All together I have been in Asia four to five years. This is my first blog.

If you are also interested in joining the ResponsibleChina team, please write me at erica [at] responsiblechina [dot] com. Send 2-3 writing samples or links to your online work with a brief description of your interest in China, environmental affairs, social entrepreneurship or corporate social responsibility.

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!