When writing the post The Difficulty of Evaluating CSR Reports, I had not begun reading Sinopec’s 2007 Sustainability Report.

Had I, I would have had another example of just how wide the spectrum can be.

Using the image below as a start, for Sinopec, sustainability for them is about 3 things :improving the financial value of the firm, improving human capital,and improving the environment.  There are none of the pictures of executives helping children read or plant trees, and what “kids and babies” angles they did through into this went into the back

What they did cover, often, was corruption and how they had programs to deal with that, and they had programs that supported the development of their employees and their families.  It was like reading a state owned enterprise guidebook at time as I began to see that Sinopec’s angle on this document was not only honest.. it was holistic in many regards.

As an assessment under traditional means  Sinopec’s report as a pure environmental report was not complete.  they failed to mention many of the key programs I would have hope to see from an oil firm, and what programs they have are pretty thin at best.  I thought that there would have been more mention on R&D related to clean technologies - like a BP - or that there would be some discussion around their process to clean up their supply chain.  However, neither happened

However, by taking their view of sustainability out to a position of where a traditional CSR report is positioned it did force me to think about how different parties view sustainability in different ways. Surely everyone can admit that the system is not a perfect one, but what I found almost amusing in my second read was that Sinopec had some of the best statistics (and presentation of their statistics), unlike many firms that bury or hide numbers with in reports.

Where I would recommend this report for readers is to spend some time thinking about how China and the West see sustainability from a cultural perspective and how this highlights that gap.  It is not necessarily a bad thing that Sinopec took this route in their report, and I do appreciate seeing their view, but if they need to really work on their supporting information for next year so that we can see just what it is they are doing.

The Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress just recently approved new regulations that are designed to green the country and combat the image as the world’s polluter. The laws promote a circular economy where:

…the government will step up environmental monitoring of carbon-intensive industries such as steel, power generation, oil refinery, construction and printing. Industries will also be required to introduce water-saving technologies and encouraged to switch to cleaner forms of energy, such as natural gas and renewables.

Businesses and government departments will be required to install renewable energy technologies in new buildings, while industrial and rural sectors will be encouraged to make wider use of waste material, ranging from coal mine waste to livestock slurry.

(Xinhua News Agency)

This will have a huge impact on Western firms who have outsourced their carbon intensive manufacturing to China. The new green laws go into effect at the start of next year. I wonder what will happen during this time: Will we just see the same capitalist treadmill of production where there will be even more outsourcing to other areas like Vietnam? Of course before we can make predictions, the larger question that must be answered is what will the process be like in terms of acquiring these new technologies? Who will shoulder these costs? If it’s all going to be put on businesses, what will be offered to stop them from fleeing?

The World Bank said improved economic estimates showed there were more poor people around the world than previously thought while also revealing big successes in the fight to overcome extreme poverty.

The new estimates, which reflect improvements in internationally comparable price data, offer a much more accurate picture of the cost of living in developing countries and set a new poverty line of US$1.25 a day. They are based on the results of the 2005 International Comparison Program (ICP), released earlier this year.

The developing world is poorer than we thought but no less successful in the fight against poverty. In China, the number of people living on less than US$1.25 a day in 2005 prices has dropped from 835 million in 1981 to 207 million in 2005. The Bank’s earlier 2004 estimate had 130 million people living in China below US$1 a day based on 1993 PPP. Thus, the new calculations reveal more poor people than assumed earlier, but China’s remarkable success in reducing poverty still stands. source.

After 2 weeks of walking past and admiring a new WWF campaign, I finally remembered to bring my camera.

What I like about it is that it takes three of the biggest energy wasting habits and has developed a simple campaign around this issues (air conditioning, lighting, and water).

This interesting event took place last night in BJ (the last in the current series; series might continue later this year) with 2 speakers: 1 from Tsinghua on the design of the Olympic Park and 1 from Greenlink Kusters on Sustainable landscape design. A few notes follow:

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The issue of water quality in China is not a new one, and with the well publicized algae blooms in China highlighting the problems on a more frequent basis, many in China are beginning to understand the link between development and water.

As a quick refresher, in taihu last year there was a large algae bloom that chocked off the oxygen from the water.  It killed fish, it was undrinkable, and it was largely a result of industrial chemicals mixing with agricultural runoff in highly concentrated levels.  It was a condition that we saw again in Qingdao 2 weeks ago.

For many, the level of awareness has yet to fully transition.  Sure, farmers can trace their dying crops to highly plluted rivers, and fisherman can tangibly feel reduced fish stocks, but the question remains what connections the average consumer is making to these conditions and their health.

The recent Ecologist article Nitrates and Cancer provides another example of why we should be paying attention:

Chinese scientists are reaching a very different view: that nitrite in drinking water is closely linked with cancer incidence and mortality. Indeed, nitrite pollution may be responsible for up to half of all cancer deaths in developed countries – even when nitrite and nitrate levels are within legal limits.

New research from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) projects that China’s urban population is likely to grow from 600 million today to more than one billion by 2030.

City dwellers typically contribute more to GDP, but the projected increase will also test the ability of China’s municipal governments to provide energy, water, health care, and education for their burgeoning population.

This research (a summary is here, though the full report is not due for a couple more months) shows very clearly the risks and opportunities China’s insane urbanisation will bring to both the government and business. For government, urbanisation offers a way of providing social services more effectively and cost efficiently and a more efficient way of managing resources.

If urban productivity measures were deployed throughout the country, overall public-spending requirements would fall by $214 billion (1.5 trillion renminbi) a year by 2025. Water pollution would be halved and air pollution emissions cut by about a third. Savings to the private sector, mainly through reduced resource consumption, would come to about $143 billion (1 trillion renminbi).

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Probe International recently published an alarming document on the state of Beijing’s water supply.

Suffering from chronic droughts, and increased demands, this research looks at the resulting drop in Beijing’s already scarce water shortages and how not a matter of if.. it is a matter of when..  Beijing will need to take aggressive measures to address the problem.

According to the Executive Summary of the report:

Today, more than two-thirds of the municipality’s total water supply comes from groundwater. The rest is surface water coming from Beijing’s dwindling reservoirs and rivers. The municipality’s two largest reservoirs, Miyun and Guanting, now hold less than ten percent of their original storage capacity and Guanting is so polluted it hasn’t been used as a drinking water source since 1997.

This report traces Beijing’s 60-year transformation from relative water abundance to water crisis, and the main policy responses to keep water flowing to China’s capital.

Read It Here

GIGA: Green Ideas: Green Action

greening the world we make…

Mission statement: We live in a designed world. Everything we make, use and discard has been designed by someone, somewhere. Most of it is unsustainable and designers are the source.

Our mission is to make design green: empowering designers with the right tools to accelerate change.

ACTION TOOLS:

BASE: An online database of green materials, empowering designers with well researched, impartial and actionable information.
PEDIA: A green encyclopedia of definitions and basic design concepts.

IDEAS TOOLS:

EVENTS: Lectures and events that presents the work of a designer that leads by example: the challenges and the solutions. The lectures serve as a platform for sharing ‘best of practice’ knowledge and ideas about local solutions to sustainability.
CASE: A series of case studies showcasing projects to learn from.
OUTREACH: Lectures and education in universities, workshops and more on the boards.

Structure: GIGA is a non-profit group created and managed by professionals and supported by volunteers and sponsors.

Short term needs

After the incredible feedback generated by the first website, GIGA is expanding as an organization and currently working on the website’s second iteration. Its aims to be more interactive, user-driven and easy to use. With the second website up in September, a course at Tongji University and key upcoming lectures, GIGA will be in a strong position to receive sponsorship. However, we need the help of volunteers to get us there.

- Marketing Volunteer: Putting together a package to approach potential sponsors and donors.
- Programmers: Assisting on the construction of the website.
- Content Research: Researching, assessing and rating products. Researching and reviewing case studies.
- Category manager (for material database)
- Lecture / Event Organizer
- Translation of website content into Chinese

If you are interested in being a volunteer, please contact us at: action (at)giga-china.com