I was looking at back issues of the China Daily–state-run since 1981–and saw an article mentioning globalization in December 2007. China’s efforts to make globalization green focuses more on the effects of Chinese importation of resources from less-developed countries (LDC) than on the developed world’s effects on China’s environment. This article discussed the role of the Global Environmental Institute (GEI) being “a key presence behind the scenes of the drafting of the overseas forestry management guidelines.” The China Daily article cited GEI’s executive director, Jin Jiamen, who we are also meeting with on the 6th in Beijing.

This article talked about China’s impact on the LDC which it is trading with, and China’s use of the LDC’s environment as a pollution “sink”. This is the way that the United States treats China’s environment currently, but it is a mark of industrialization for China to be treating others that way. Terrible that, in order to be industrialized, it seems countries have to use a “dump” in this way. Says the article, in Chinese newspaper language, “In globalization, there are always late-comers who step in to fill vacancies once the early birds leave the woods for a better habitat.” The article goes on to call for China to “change it’s pattern of development” to be more sustainable.

The China Daily goes on to explain the idea of a sink, “In other words, many end-consumers of the raw materials are not in China. Yet China takes the heat for using resources at the expense of other countries’ environments.” This is similar to the way that kids in the U.S. are using plush toys from fast food chains made in China.

This page on this web site is also applicable.

Key Olympic venues are being built with green building models, says this article in Red Orbit about the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube. The article tells about the rainwater re-use system in these structures. Twenty-three percent of collected water will be from rainwater, and the rest from industrial waste-water and urban sewage.

Also, sustainability issues are raised: “Apart from cutting energy consumption, some Games’ venues are also trying new energy supply systems, which environmentalists hope is not just a practice of a green Olympics, but also a model for the entire country now searching for a road of sustainable development.”

This is part of the question that we are wondering about: “After the Olympics, the solar power produced by the stadium will be merged into the city’s power grid and provided to local families if there are no sport events there.” I love to hear about integrating renewables into the grid! and, it starts to answer our question about what will environmentalism look like in Beijing after the Olympics are over. The Olympics are the impetus for Beijing to explore this “greening” technology.

Yesterday Jeff and I had a project development meeting with Hongyan Oliver at Harvard to talk some more about the development of this project. In summary, again–like Ruibao Ren (BIO) at Brandeis told me, this project is both broader and more specific than I initially guessed, and it’s difficult for me to keep it manageable.

Hongyan said that the economic development that happened in the West in 100s of years happened in 30 years in China. This means that the pollution was also compressed into 30 years, and this is a new problem in the world, so China needs to find innovative solutions. What I’m interested in, is the way that the increased interconnectedness of ideas in the world is mitigating China’s problem solving. Because of the interconnectedness of ideas (and global events like the Olympics only encourages those interconnections), although the problems China is solving are more severe than problems in the world were ever before–the most severe, you might say. My adviser and I decided superlatives are the way to go–also the opportunity is more exciting–like Jim Fallows said in “China’s Silver Lining”.

Hongyan said that one of the shortcomings of environmental protection in China that it is too abstract, and the direct impacts of actions are not discussed. Something about this contradicts what I’ve been learning about China’s environmentalism, maybe because I’ve focused so much on environmental education (EE). From what I’ve learned, EE is a form of environmental protection that really encourages agency, and I can’t repeat enough that this agency is what was missing when I was in China in 2005. I could be wrong though. We will see.

When we asked her about the effects that the political context has on Beijing’s hosting of the Olympics, Hongyan said that the Olympics functioned as a catalyst for a movement that was beginning to emerge in China. “China would want to do this anyway, but the Olympics set a goal and a deadline. We want to show the world, we can do this.” Hongyan calls the “energy and manpower [that China is putting into the Olympic movement] enhancing the proudness of being Chinese.”

As well as sparking an increase in general environmental awareness in China, the Olympics have given China a deadline to develop infrastructure in the city of Beijing, like adding the new subway line to serve Olympic needs. This kind of infrastructure development is what interests me about the efforts, because it has the potential to be really sustainable. I’m thinking about some cool graphics in our film to show the development of the subway line. Also I think we can use graphics to show the way that the micrometer particulates affect the air quality, like Hongyan was explaining to us yesterday. I want to integrate graphics in a way similar to the way that graphics were used in the A+E documentary we watched about the Hoover Dam–Jeff, after referring to my external hard drive, the graphics were something we liked about the Hoover Dam piece. Nothing wrong with using my resources. Jeff, you also commented on the way that the final video editing was done to make the subject kind of separate from the background of the shot. We have to think about what this means though, and if it matches the central themes in our film.

Hongyan pointed out to us what I have been thinking about very succinctly. She said that the costs of “greening” China are direct,  but the benefits are realized in the long-term. As an environmental economist, her job is to keep reminding that, although they aren’t felt directly, the long-terms benefits are real. I wonder if we can relate this to the generational approach that we want our film to take. That might be cool.

Jeff visited this weekend and we did some great project development.

We rented 10 documentaries from the BPL and watched about four of them–it takes us about three hours to watch one hour of film. What’s cool to me is that we were able to apply really disconnected ideas to our idea of our project. Films about the Hoover Dam and films about Michael Moore, all applicable to the development of our work. Which is why, I’ll say again, it is continually evolving and feedback will only make it stronger. Hens the web site; I’m encouraging feedback.

Also, Jeff had me read a little bit about documentary film making, because I have no training in this, and we decided that we’re going to make an expository documentary film. fancy. And, to integrate Antony’s idea of shooting the film as episodes, Jeff and I compromised and we want to shoot vignettes–I’m not sure this is exactly the correct word–but have an underlying theme so that they can be put together into a short film. Jeff also pointed out that we shouldn’t limit ourselves to a 20-30 minute documentary. I’m happy to go as far with this idea as I can take it.

After watching Michael Moore Hates America, and seeing Michael Wilson bringing himself so much into his film, we talked a bit more about how much we plan to incorporate me in this project. It has implications even in the camera angle from which the footage is shot, and Jeff’s involvement as my cameraman. Because every thing counts in a project like this. How we present ourselves effects the interviewees, which can have an impact on the information they provide us with in our interviews. It’s important not to discount these influences.

My background in newspapering has taught me to value objectivity. I think by going to China and highlighting environmentalism we are already showing a kind of agenda–I guess it’s important to distinguish between objectivity and detachment, in this case. We plan to be objective and show what we see as much as we can, but, also, I’ve very attached to this project and love it like a kid we’re raising. I’m happy to have Jeff to keep it in perspective for me.

The rapid growth of the Chinese economy at the end of the 20th century has pushed China’s environment into the international spotlight—unsustainable use of the country’s resources and the waste that is generated through the use of those resources is affecting the world environment adversely. The rest of the world is becoming increasingly aware of the interconnected nature of ecological systems because of global climate change and its manifestations. The interconnectedness of the global ecological system is reinforced by interconnections that have been realized through technological advances—“The World is Flat” phenomenon—and also through the increased fluidity of the movement of goods, people, and ideas.

Continue reading Environmentalism in China [pdf]

The Hengduan Mountains are located in southwest China, where the Tibetan plateau meets the eastern Himalayan Mountain range. Bordered by Myanmar to the west and Yunnan Province, China to the south, the Hengduan Mountains are rich in species and ecosystem biodiversity. Three major rivers cut through these mountains, running within 85 kilometers (50 miles) of each other at some parts. UNESCO World Heritage Foundation has named this area the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Area for its stunning beauty and its biological and cultural importance. Conservation International, an international non-governmental organization, calls the Hengduan Mountains a biodiversity hotspot, one of 34 such places in the world.

Continue reading Conservation Biology In the Hengduan Mountains Sub-alpine Conifer Forests [pdf]