China's Green Leap Outward - with Mathias Larsen
Environment China
Today, we’re continuing our series on China’s external investments in the energy field, focusing in particular on China's outbound investments in clean energy manufacturing. Our guest today is Mathias Larsen. Mathias is Senior Policy Fellow at LSE’s Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change & the Environment, where he leads the Institute’s work on China, and he also studies China’s impact on other countries outside the global North, in particular, Vietnam, India, Ethiopia, and Brazil. His work focuses on the role of the state in ensuring financing for a green transition,...
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China's Surging BRI Investments - with Christoph Nedopil-Wang
Environment China
In today's episode, we take a deep dive into the latest stats on China's surging investments in the Belt-and-Road Initiative countries. Energy investment is up, but we learn that this was both the 'greenest and dirtiest' year for BRI investments ever. Even as China's oil demand stagnates, China's SOEs and construction companies are doing brisk business investing in oil and gas, even as CATL and Jinko Solar find deals and opportunities in Latin America and Africa. Our guest, Christoph Nedopil-Wang, is the director of the Griffith Asia Institute and Professor of Economics. Christoph engages in...
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China's New NDC - Where do we go from here? - with Kate Logan, ASPI
Environment China
China recently released its official NDC, or Nationally Determined Contribution document, laying out a commitment to reduce carbon emissions ‘from peak’ by 7-10% by 2035. The document was widely seen as disappointing. Now that the NDC and the initial reactions are out, it’s time to take a step back and evaluate the bigger picture. What does this target really mean? What does the NDC signal about China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, or for its major emitting sectors such as coal power or coal-to-chemicals? What impact did climate diplomacy or weakened/withdrawn climate commitments from other...
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A Conversation with Our Podcast Host, Anders Hove - hosted by Calvin Quek
Environment China
In this special episode of the podcast, Calvin Quek interviews the BEN podcast's longtime host, Anders Hove. Topics covered include how Anders came to China, his formative experiences working in China at the China Greentech Initiative, and how he got involved in the podcast. He even gives us his all time favorite episode (see link below). Calvin also discusses with Anders the topic of innovation in China's clean energy space, covered in a major paper Anders published last year at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES). This is a wide-ranging discussion, so here are a few links to...
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A Conversation with Our Podcast Host, Anders Hove - hosted by Calvin Quek
Environment China
In this special episode of the podcast, Calvin Quek interviews the BEN podcast's longtime host, Anders Hove. Topics covered include how Anders came to China, his formative experiences working in China at the China Greentech Initiative, and how he got involved in the podcast. He even gives us his all time favorite episode (see link below). Calvin also discusses with Anders the topic of innovation in China's clean energy space, covered in a major paper Anders published last year at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES). This is a wide-ranging discussion, so here are a few links to...
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Green finance: what can other countries learn from China? - with Calvin Quek
Environment China
Green finance has been a hot topic for several years, and in some respects China is an overall leader in green finance -- at least in terms of the overall volume of green bonds and green loans. More green finance products are coming out at a steady stream. So what does all this mean for China's energy transition? Has it really helped, and is it contributing to greening China's investments abroad? In today's podcast, we talk to longtime Beijing Energy Network green finance guru Calvin Quek about these and other questions. Calvin is the Executive Director, Nature Finance, Oxford Sustainable...
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Young Professionals in Sustainability: Jialu Zuo (in Chinese)
Environment China
In the latest episode of Environment China's podcast, we speak to Jialu Zuo. Jialu is a sustainability specialist at China National Aviation Fuel Group (CNAF), focusing on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and international engagement. She holds dual Master’s degrees in Public Policy for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), jointly awarded by Tsinghua University (Beijing) and the University of Geneva (Switzerland). She earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from Renmin University of China. This episode is in Chinese and is produced by...
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China’s Climate Path Amid Trade Tensions and Global Expectations
Environment China
In today's episode of Environment China, we’re doing something a little bit different, cross-posting a recording of a panel hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute’s China Climate Hub. This panel discussion explores China’s latest emission trends, clean energy deployment, relationship with the global south, position at COP30, and impact of the U.S.-China trade war on the global energy transition. The speakers are Kate Logan, director of China Climate Hub at Asia Society Policy Institute; Lauri Myllyvirta, non-resident senior fellow of China Climate Hub at Asia Society Policy...
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China Energy Transformation Outlook - Kaare Sandholt
Environment China
In this episode of Environment China, we are talking about China’s long-term pathway to carbon neutrality and, in particular, about the recent publication of the China Energy Transformation Outlook, or CETO, which provides two scenarios of China’s clean energy transition. We talk to Kaare Sandholt, International Chief Expert for the China Energy Transformation Programme. The programme is run by the Energy Research Institute of the NDRC. Topics we address include: The importance of long-term modeling, and its contribution compared to five-year plans or other policy planning How...
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Can China Reduce Emissions by 30% by 2035? - with Belinda Schäpe of CREA
Environment China
According to a recent report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), by sustaining its current expansion rate of renewable energy, China could cut 30% of power sector emissions & increase non-fossil energy share to over 40%. This would require renewable capacity of 5,000 GW by 2035 (roughly 3x current renewable capacity, or 4x current wind and solar capacity) and halting approvals of all new unabated coal power plants. CREA's report argues these goals can only be achieved through robust national targets, such as through the forthcoming Nationally Determined Contributions...
info_outlineToday, we’re continuing our series on China’s external investments in the energy field, focusing in particular on China's outbound investments in clean energy manufacturing.
Our guest today is Mathias Larsen. Mathias is Senior Policy Fellow at LSE’s Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change & the Environment, where he leads the Institute’s work on China, and he also studies China’s impact on other countries outside the global North, in particular, Vietnam, India, Ethiopia, and Brazil. His work focuses on the role of the state in ensuring financing for a green transition, covering central banking, fiscal policy, development finance, and other tools related to industrial policy.
Mathias has a double PhD in international political economy from Copenhagen Business School and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a double Master’s degree in international business and politics from Copenhagen Business School and Rotterdam School of Management, as well as a double Master’s degree in international development from Sciences Po Paris and Peking University. He previously worked as a Postdoc at Brown University, at the International Institute of Green Finance, as well as at the UN in New York, Bangkok, and Nairobi.
Topics we cover include:
- The trend change in China's green outbound investment that started in 2022.
- Which regions are attracting which kinds of investments.
- Whether countries are really seeing development opportunities in this stream of investment -- and what they can do to maximize their chances of development.
- China's central bank policies which include both national development priorities as well as macroeconomic stability, without the strict independence traditionally expected of central banks.
- Whether such policies could offer a lesson for others.
- China's outbound green hydrogen investments in the Mideast.
- Saudi Arabia's strategy on green hydrogen.
For further reading: