In July 2008, GEI was invited, together with seven other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to select a bank to be awarded with the Innovation Award for Green Banks in the 2007 Competition for China’s Best Banks, organized by the Economic Observer. The award is the first such award for “green” banks in China, and is also the first award in China for which the organization and selection was performed entirely by NGOs. The competition has been pioneer in encouraging banks and other financial institutions to participate in environmental protection activities.

We asked Mr. Zhi Yingbiao, GEI’s Environmental Policy Program Officer and participant in the award selection, to share with us his thoughts on the award.

“As a representative of GEI, I was honored to participate in the selection of the Innovation Award for Green Banks. As I see it, there are three main reasons why the award was set up. First, the award speaks to the development needs of the banks themselves. Second, it was the result of a great effort by the NGOs involved in its organization and implementation.. Finally, it arose to some extent out of pressure from international society.

In recent years, as China has been increasing its overseas investment, criticisms from western countries of environmental problems caused by China’s overseas investment have also been increasing. To my knowledge, the environmental criteria for China’s overseas investments and aid programs are different primarily because of the differences in invested countries’ policies and laws. However, it is undeniable that the Chinese banking industry needs urgently to regulate, from the top, Chinese banks’ and companies’ environmental behaviors during their overseas investments. By doing this, it will not only address the criticisms made by western countries of China’s overseas enterprises, but will also help Chinese banks and companies become more competitive by avoiding environmental risks. The Innovation Award for Green Banks is only a beginning. We hope the Chinese banking industry can issue environment-friendly criteria that are both internationally acceptable and reflect the reality of the situation facing Chinese companies operating overseas.

NGOs can also play a crucial role here. We can, for example, promote the development of “green banks”, assist in monitoring the banks to make sure criteria are strictly followed, help the companies in realizing their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR), or evaluate their CSR results. The selection of the Innovation Award for Green Bank demonstrates that, NGOs’ efforts are beginning to be recognized. We should, therefore, take this as inspiration to make greater contributions to society.

Interviewed by AN Xin, GEI Communications Officer

Biodiversity Conservation Program
Conservation Concessions Agreement Project

GEI’s Conservation Concessions Agreement Project aims to reduce the impact that people living in the periphery of nature reserves have on local biodiversity. The project’s community development initiatives provide villages with sustainable alternatives to exploiting protected areas for food and fuel, offering support in the form of renewable energy and profitable community-based ventures such as rabbit rearing and organic honeybee husbandry.

The project was affected greatly by the blizzard and earthquake disasters earlier this year. From July 14th to 30th, project team members went to the project site to make detailed reconstruction plans. Team members gave local government a donation totaling RMB 30, 050 to purchase more rabbits and honeybees. Specialists have been invited to repair the damaged biogases–Mr. Ren Xuping, known widely as China’s “Rabbit King”, was also invited to conduct trainings on rabbit rearing.

Although the project officially ended on June 30th, 2008, the project team is applying for new funding to provide sustained post-earthquake support to the communities being helped by the project, and also to scale up and improve the project. GEI hopes that this project serve as a helpful precedent for similar projects, especially when making policy suggestions to the Chinese government.

Energy and Climate Change Program

Identifying Opportunities and Key Stakeholders to Mitigate the Energy and Environmental Crisis in Southern Project

GEI’s project on Identifying Opportunities and Key Stakeholders to Mitigate the Energy and Environmental Crisis in Southern China, starting in September 2007, focuses on the feasibility of reducing fossil fuel dependence in Guangdong Province. After a year of intensive research, the project team, with a more in-depth understanding of Guangdong’s energy consumption, made a thorough analysis of the energy-saving potential of Guangdong’s high-energy industries like cement and steel.

In July and August 2008, the project team collected information, through the Guangdong Center for Energy Efficiency Technology, on 19 energy-saving projects for potential implementation in the near future by 10 Chinese steel companies and made specific analysis of their economic and environmental effects. The information and the analysis, helping investors and companies better understand the situation and specific needs of Guangdong’s energy-saving market in steel industry, would help to attract investments and technologies to implement specific energy-saving projects in Guangdong.

Marketing Tools for Energy Efficiency Investments in Metallurgy Industry Project
The project aims to improve the competitiveness of Chinese steel companies so as to realize the Chinese steel industry’s sustainable development potential through market mechanisms and introduction of the Energy Service Company (ESCo) model. After one year’s research, the project, having ended in June 2008, will release a research paper focusing on energy-saving in Chinese metallurgy industry.

The project team is now preparing a seminar to be held in September 27th 2008. Specialists from Chinese steel industry, energy service industry, equipment industry, among others, will attend the seminar and discuss the challenges and opportunities Chinese steel companies may encounter in energy-saving and energy efficiency. The seminar will provide a platform for steel companies, investors, technology providers and related organizations to explore effective methods to realize the Chinese steel industry’s sustainable development potential. An invitation letter is available for downloading on GEI’s website: http://www.geichina.org/index.php?controller=News&action=View&nid=53

Environmental Governance Program
Sustainable Development Training for High Level Policy Makers Project
The Sustainable Development Training for High Level Policy Makers Project focuses on developing and integrating environmental and sustainable development topics into the Central Party School (CPS) curriculum as part of the training for policymakers in the Chinese government. Topics covered under the proposed curriculum include environmental policy, sustainable energy, urban smart growth, rural sustainable development and climate change. In order to gain access to the rural sustainable development and climate change policies Chinese local governments already made, their methods, processes and successful experiences, GEI invited several specialists and CPS teachers to visit Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangdong Provinces and Hanzhou City to help them conduct a week researches about the above issues. Several CPS teachers also visited GEI’s Conservation Concessions Agreement Project and Lijiang Sustainable Rural Development Project when being in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces. The on-the-ground researches have collected valuable first-hand information for developing the curriculum.

Integrated Policy Package for Overseas Chinese Enterprises Project

Publications
The Integrated Policy Package for Overseas Chinese Enterprises (IPP) project reached several important milestones over the past year in the completion of its Environmental Guidelines for Overseas Investments and Aid. The project team finished the first draft of the guideline in the end of June 2008. On July 25th, 2008, the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP), one of GEI’s partners, held a symposium in Beijing to further improve the guidelines. For more information on the symposium, please visit GEI’s website at http://www.geichina.org/index.php?controller=News&action=View&nid=49.

Finally, China Business News and China Daily, publications based in China, reported the draft guidelines in September 10th and 12th, 2008 separately. For more information please consult China Business News’ website at : http://news.ifeng.com/mainland/200809/0910_17_775235.shtml and China Daily’s website at: www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-09/12/content_7022679.htm

Lao-China Sustainable Land and Natural Resources Project
During the first half of this year, the National Land Management Authority (NLMA) and the Secretary Office of Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic held a multi-round discussion with GEI on Laos’ sustainable land management and institutional capacity building. On August 18th, GEI signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of a Lao-China Cooperation Center for Sustainable Land and Natural Resources Management Project with the NLMA, marking the first overseas pilot study for the Integrated Policy Packages for Overseas Chinese Enterprises Project. With the cooperation with GEI, the Lao government will be able to effectively manage land concessions for sustainable economic development. Meanwhile, GEI will help enforce norms for ecologically sound practices for Chinese companies in Laos, which will not only be helpful in providing a working example of the Guidelines’ effectiveness, but will also be helpful in expanding the project into the ten countries in Association of Southeast Asian Nations. For more information on this project, please visit the GEI website at: http://www.geichina.org/index.php?controller=News&action=View&nid=52

Paris Seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility
From June 24th to 29th, 2008 a member of the project team was invited by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to attend a seminar entitled “Chinese Government Encourages Companies to Fulfill Their Corporate Society Responsibility” in Paris, France. The project team member delivered a speech about how GEI, with cooperation from Chinese government, urged companies to fulfill their environmental responsibilities.

Sustainable Rural Development Program

Tibet Project
Because of political unrest in Tibet in March and the Sichuan earthquake in May, GEI’s Tibet-based project activities have been greatly impaired. The project team is now endeavoring to carry out the biogas and organic agriculture initiatives at the Rongxiang Township Central School, which will reduce community dependence on local biodiversity and provide fresh, healthy organic produce to the school’s more than two hundred students. The project team is also endeavoring to build seven biogas tanks for households in the area. The set-up of the biogas will address the health concerns of direct biomass burning and the air pollution it causes. The biogas slurry can also increase local villagers’ income by acting as a natural fertilizer, thereby increasing crop yields.

Sri Lanka Project
The Sri Lanka project aims to introduce project models that have been proven successful and feasible in China to Sri Lanka and promote the use of clean energy (i.e. biogas) so as to encourage ecologically and economically sound development in Sri Lanka. After one year’s implementation, the project has garnered widespread local support. However, despite a brief lull in project activity this spring due to a complicated set of obstacles on technology and implementation, , the project team has sped up the progress of biogas tank construction and the training of local technicians qualities, in order to catch up to the original plan of building 80 biogas tanks in Sri Lanka by February 2009.

Learn more about GEI at www.GEIChina.org.

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