Shanghai on a smart low carbon city development path

Participated in a workshop about “Shanghai Public Building Energy Consumption Supervision System Progress Report & WWF Low Carbon City Initiative Workshop” in Shanghai. The way IT can be used to create intelligent cities is not well understood, but this project in Shanghai can hopefully increase the understanding about the potential.

XU Qiang, Chief engineer at Shanghai Research Institute of Building Science, did a very interesting presentation and there are clear links to projects that can encourage decentralized energy solutions and even virtual meetings. So it is a clear case of a project with significant "low-carbon feedback" potential.

Beside mr. XU the following persons attended:
Ms. CHEN Xiufen, Deputy Head Officer, Building Admin, Shanghai Urban Construction
and Transportation Committee (SUCTC)
Mr. WANG Baohai, director, Shanghai Energy Efficiency Office
Mr. CHEN Yijin, director, Develop Dept of Shanghai EE service Center
Prof. TAN Hongwei, Research Center of Building EE, Tongji University
Dr. TIAN Zhan, Researcher, Climate Change Center, Shanghai Meteorological Bureau
Ms. Ann-Sofi GAVERSTEDT, Project Manager WWF/IKEA Climate Projects, WWF
Sweden
Ms. HUANG Miao, Head, China-OECD relations, Climate, WWF Sweden
Mr. Stefano BROWN，S & E Manager, Retail, IKEA Group
Dr. WANG Limin, Deputy Operation Director, WWF China
Ms. CHEN Dongmei, Director, Climate Change & Energy Programme, WWF China
Mr. ZHENG Ping, Business Energy Efficiency Officer, WWF China
Mr. ZHANG Yifei, HCPCP Programme Communication Manager, WWF China
Ms. WANG Qian, Climate Change Mitigation Officer, WWF China
Ms. LI Yuan, Communication Coordinator, WWF China
Ms. Aaron LEE, Project Leader, BCG Consulting
Ms. LI Jie, Consultant, BCG Consulting

Eight Chinese Cities showing the way towards a global low carbon economy - Smart solutions and export opportunities for the 21st century

On my way to China again and all the possibilities there. First time since the Olympics and I will focus a little extra on eight cities that can influence the future for us all. Cities that already are giving important contributions to a low carbon future.

1. Baoding
Export of PV and wind

2. Beijing
Nanotech for a low carbon future
Smart Construction

3. Dezhou
Himin Solar Valley

4. Guangzhou
Smart city planning and buildings

5. Shanghai
Energy efficient buildings

6. Shenzhen
BYD Electric cars

7. Tianjin
Tianjin Eco-City

8. Wuxi
The headquarter of Suntech +more solar as well as wind energy, biofuel and IT/computer industry

From Carbon Neutral to Climate Positive

A report from an interesting project that builds on work with some of the leading companies in the world is now available in a draft format. Please download if you are interested in how companies can move beyond climate Neutral/zero emissions visions to a positive contribution. Comments most welcome…

Formal launch of final version probably at the BSR event in New York first week in November.

History unfolding when crime became OK for scientists and mainstream politicians: Time to get tough with coal

I have hardly seen anything about this is the press even though we might see something that might have a central place when future history books are written. In the shadow of the financial crisis (but in a way related to what can also can be seen as criminal on a scale that is hard to understand) we saw a jury in UK, supported by scientists and politicians, clear Greenpeace activists and send the signal to the world that it is criminal to build coal power plants in rich countries.

From the Independent:
“Jurors accepted defence arguments that the six had a "lawful excuse" to damage property at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greater damage caused by climate change. The defence of "lawful excuse" under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 allows damage to be caused to property to prevent even greater damage – such as breaking down the door of a burning house to tackle a fire.”
And the article continue:
“During the eight-day trial, the world's leading climate scientist, Professor James Hansen of Nasa, who had flown from American to give evidence, appealed to the Prime Minister personally to "take a leadership role" in cancelling the plan and scrapping the idea of a coal-fired future for Britain. Last December he wrote to Mr Brown with a similar appeal. At the trial, he called for an moratorium on all coal-fired power stations, and his hour-long testimony about the gravity of the climate danger, which painted a bleak picture, was listened to intently by the jury of nine women and three men. Professor Hansen, who first alerted the world to the global warming threat in June 1988 with testimony to a US senate committee in Washington, and who last year said the earth was in "imminent peril" from the warming atmosphere, asserted that emissions of CO2 from Kings-north would damage property through the effects of the climate change they would help to cause. He was one of several leading public figures who gave evidence for the defence, including Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park and director of the Ecologist magazine, who similarly told the jury that in his opinion, direct action could be justified in the minds of many people if it was intended to prevent larger crimes being committed.”
Will this be an historic event where we saw the tide turning and the understanding of how urgent the climate crisis reached the legal system? Mayve, at least some visionary politicians are moving into the area as well. See what Al Gore said in this CNN article.

PS the picture is from Greenpeace at a demonstration outside Vattenfall in Germany, a state owned company (Swedish) that is world leading in lobbying and PR trying to portray coal as clean and have obstructed sustainable energy development in Sweden and other countries since the 80's. They have a huge PR budget and will hopefully be a main target as the agreement that we need to act now and not hide behind technologies that might never work.

India-China Conclave 2008: Redefining sustainable leadership

The most important “axis” in the 21st century might be the Sino-Indian axis, and in that axis the sustainability links could be seen as the most urgent. While the work in this area is almost totally ignored in the “west”/OECD a lot is happening in China and India. One very interesting event, where I have the honor to be a moderator for one session is the India-China Conclave 2008. An event where the approach and themes discussed are in line with the 21st century. I just got some more details about the event, please see the ICEC webpage for more information.

India-China Conclave 2008 is the 4th annual event under India China Economic and Cultural Council’s (ICEC) India-China Economic Programme. The conclave will be held on 20 -21, November 2008 in New Delhi. The conclave is organized by ICEC Council in collaboration with China Chamber of International Commerce and Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. The conclave strives to increase awareness of the many opportunities in India and China for economic cooperation.

Sectors to be discussed in depth:
v Information Technology
v Telecom
v Financial Services
v Infrastructure
v Power and
v Healthcare
v Environment