Environment China

Environment China is a bi-weekly podcast from the Beijing Energy Network (BEN), a grassroots organization created to help understand and tackle China’s energy and environmental challenges. The podcast features conversations with advocates, entrepreneurs, and experts and aims to highlight innovative solutions for improving China’s environment. We explore how they do their work, what strategies and solutions they have found, and why now is the right time for real and positive progress for China’s environment.

China storage and renewables: the magic recipe? - with Biqing Yang, Ember 08/09/2026

The Role of Local Leaders in China's Low-Carbon Transition - with Weila Gong 05/14/2026

Mapping China’s Overseas Financing - with Yunnan Chen and Teal Emery 04/14/2026

Mapping China’s Overseas Financing - with Yunnan Chen and Teal Emery In this episode we continue our series on China’s overseas investment trends. In the first episode, we talked with Christoph Nedopil about Chinese investment in the Belt-and Road Initiative (BRI) countries, how both green and dirty investments surged in 2025, and how big deals are back, as opposed to small-is-beautiful we heard a few years ago. In the second episode with Mathias Larsen, we delved into the regional aspects of China’s overseas energy investments in batteries, EVs, solar and hydrogen. Today, we’re going to go a step deeper, discussing a report published by ODI Global: “Greener on the other side? Mapping China's overseas co-financing and financial innovation.” The report discusses the ‘changing ecosystem’ of China’s overseas finance, pegging a part of that ecosystem as supporting green investment, while other parts do not. The report also discusses a ‘mismatch’ between some lending ‘and the regions and sectors most in need of energy transition support.’ Dr Yunnan Chen is a Research Fellow in ODI Global’s Development and Public Finance program, where her work focuses on the changing global financial governance of development finance and export credit, and China’s overseas finance in the global south. She obtained her PhD from Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies in Washington DC, where she was also a researcher at the SAIS China Africa Research Initiative (CARI), as well as with the BU Global Development Policy Center and the Center for Global Development (CGD). Teal Emery is the founder of Teal Insights, where he is building an open-source ecosystem of tools for sovereign debt and climate analysis. Previously, he spent seven years as an emerging markets sovereign research analyst at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, traveling regularly to China, Africa, the Middle East, and across the developing world. He has been looking at China's role in global finance for over a decade. He co-authored several papers on sovereign debt and sustainable finance at the World Bank. Today's episode covers: The new pressures that Chinese banks face, and how these pressures force them to take measures to reduce risks -- with implications for green lending. Why green lending is still dominated by multilateral development banks and development finance instead of by commercial banks. For green lending from China that does take place, what are the biggest mismatches between today's green lending and the actual need for green investment? The role of cooperation on project preparation, and specifically the MCDF (Multilateral Center for Development Finance), which was supposed to provide support for least developed countries to prepare projects for receiving green loans. We did have an unexpected guest on the programme today, a young infant who woke from a nap at just the wrong time! As a result, about 40 seconds of the program had to be cut out. The text from Yunnan Chen's final answer that got cut off was as follows: "If you look at what MCDF has been doing so far it’s been quite successful in creating collaborations between MDBs and institutions in the global south. In terms of capacity it’s small, its funds are in the tens of millions and it suffers from some of the same problems that some of these global project preparations have. It’s small, there’s too many of them and it’s a very fragmented ecosystem." For further reading: Yunnan Chen and Teal Emery, "Greener on the Other Side? Mapping China's Overseas Co-financing and Financial Innovation," ODI Global, 2025, at . /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/40872260

China's Green Leap Outward - with Mathias Larsen 02/17/2026

China's Green Leap Outward - with Mathias Larsen 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, 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: /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/40134955

China's Surging BRI Investments - with Christoph Nedopil-Wang 02/01/2026

China's Surging BRI Investments - with Christoph Nedopil-Wang 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 research related to sustainable finance and business in Asia and the Pacific, and he is particularly interested in the role of China in Asia's sustainable development with extensive engagement in green finance, green energy transition, green metals, climate smart state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He has numerous publications related to the topic of China’s overseas finance and green finance in general, and in particular he is the lead author of the China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2025, published by the Griffith Asia Institute in early January 2026, in collaboration with the Green Finance & Development Center (GFDC) of the Fanhai International School of Finance (FISF), in Fudan, China. [Editorial note: a young family member can occasionally be heard in the background.] Questions we address are: Is surging investment a surprise? And why is this happening just as China's domestic economy slows? Why is oil and gas investment surging when domestic demand is so soft? Is Chinese investment in minerals and minerals processing mainly a "scramble for resources" or is it a development opportunity for the recipient countries? Is Africa's growth of 300% a signficant trend change that could continue? Deal size is up. What ever happened to "small is beautiful"? Expectations for 2026 Further reading: China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2025 /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/39950260

China's New NDC - Where do we go from here? - with Kate Logan, ASPI 10/06/2025

A Conversation with Our Podcast Host, Anders Hove - hosted by Calvin Quek 09/08/2025

Green finance: what can other countries learn from China? - with Calvin Quek 07/25/2025

Green finance: what can other countries learn from China? - with Calvin Quek 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 Finance Group, and he is also Director at Transition Asia. Previously he was Senior Environmental Specialist at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing. We specifically discuss a column Calvin authored together with Mathias Larsen, Research Associate at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and Non-resident Fellow at the Green Finance and Development Center at Fudan University. The column, 'What other countries can learn from how China financed a green transformation,' was published in Environmental Finance and can be found here: . Here's a look at the discussion: 2:00 What is green finance? What does it mean, in terms of incentives and disincentives for investment decisions or corporate decisions? 4:07 What are green bonds and how do green bonds in China differ? 5:27 What is the evidence about where funds from green bonds and loans go in China? (Short answer: we have limited data, and there is some evidence that funds don’t necessarily go to green activities.) 6:45 What is a taxonomy? 9:20 Are green taxonomies or green finance instruments still going towards ‘clean coal’ or fossil fuels, and is that still a live part of the debate in China? (Short answer: yes.) 9:45 Did green finance play any role in China becoming the leader in clean energy technology? If so, how big? (Short answer: yes, but only a small role.) 12:30 Additionality: In general, financing costs for favored sectors and for SOE-built infrastructure is already benefitting from incredibly low costs of capital. So in that context, is green finance providing any additional incentive – at least in China? 15:00 If most green finance goes to SOE projects that might have happened anyway, does it help some marginal green projects around the edges, or does the huge state sector actually crowd out green finance for marginal projects and innovative new tech? 16:45 For green hydrogen or other technologies that are not close to economic viability on their own, green finance is not going to make the difference? 18:00 Role of green finance in China’s overseas investments. 23:00 If green energy is more distributed, does that work against China’s green finance model, based on large loans for big projects? Or can small be beautiful? /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/37548080

Young Professionals in Sustainability: Jialu Zuo (in Chinese) 07/14/2025

China’s Climate Path Amid Trade Tensions and Global Expectations 07/03/2025

China Energy Transformation Outlook - Kaare Sandholt 03/23/2025

China Energy Transformation Outlook - Kaare Sandholt 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 CETO's two main scenarios compare: both assume carbon neutrality by 2060 and similar GDP growth, but differ in terms of energy mix and technology progress The role of electrification and energy efficiency: starting with transport, but also in industry, which requires both a cleaner grid and lower direct combustion of fossil fuels, which wastes huge amounts of energy through waste heat The importance of structural economic transformation: CETO assumes China makes substantial progress transitioning away from heavy manufacturing The reforms that CETO anticipates, including especially in power markets (merit-order dispatch, cross-regional electricity trading, and price signals), but also in carbon markets and industry standards The role of gas: gas will rise rapidly in relative terms, with 50-50 growth between power sector and industry; in coastal provinces gas is for flexibility in the power sector, and inland provinces gas is for industry; but it will not become a major transition fuel that takes the place of coal The amount of wind and solar capacity that will be needed: while the RE capacity requirement has risen due to faster electricity demand growth, the annual additions needed are roughly in line with present wind and solar additions The report is available in English here: And Kaare Sandholt has an excellent article in a recent issue of Carbon Brief, published together with Wang Zhongying: Executive Producer of this episode: Anders Hove /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/35824745

Can China Reduce Emissions by 30% by 2035? - with Belinda Schäpe of CREA 12/07/2024

(Repost for missing audio) Comparing offshore wind in China and Norway - with Erlend Ek 09/13/2024

(Repost for missing audio) Comparing offshore wind in China and Norway - with Erlend Ek Dear listeners, we hope you missed us during the long summer break! Now, we're back, and hope you'll join us again for another in-depth episode dealing with a rapidly expanding element of China's energy transition: offshore wind. Today, we’re talking about China’s offshore wind sector and how it compares to the strategies pursued by Western countries, typified perhaps by the example of Norway. Our guest is longtime Beijing Energy Network member Erlend Ek, who was posted to Beijing and lived in China for over 15 years. He is now senior research strategy and energy lead with China Policy. Erlend has over this time headed a long list of commissioned research projects across a diverse range of topics, including China’s industrial development, trade policy, regional economic coordination, and the economic zones system. His master's thesis is entitled: "China and Norway: who leads in offshore wind energy and why? A study in motivation." Key points addressed in the podcast: How China's offshore wind industry started out, and how it compares to the rest of the world. (It started late, but is now largest in the world by far.) How China's offshore wind compares technologically. (China has mastered almost the complete supply chain, but so far mainly competes for domestic projects.) The role of policy versus markets in China in offshore wind. Erlend points out that the Chinese state plays an important coordinating role, and a very active role in setting objectives, but relies heavily on the market for efficient outcomes within that context. How China's strategy differs from that of Norway and other countries more focused on "technology neutral" or "low cost" approaches to the energy transition. The two main critiques of China's energy transition and whether they are valid: (1) that subsidies have declining effectiveness and rising costs, meaning they are ultimately unsustainable in bringing about a transition and overly costly, and (2) that the private sector is inherently better at deciding where society should invest than the public sector or policy makers. How China localized the wind industry and whether its criticisms of industrial policies in Europe make sense. Whether other countries can compete with China in these fields, even with the best policies, given its scale and other advantages. Episode produced by: Anders Hove (This episode is a re-post of yesterday's episode, which was missing around 1 minute of content towards the end.) /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/33038637

Young Professionals in Sustainability - Maggie Yao (in Chinese) 06/24/2024

Young Professionals in Sustainability - UB Qiu (in Chinese) 05/28/2024

Young Professionals in Sustainability: Ruixin Li (in Chinese) 05/09/2024

Energy and AI: with Anders Hove of BEN and OIES 04/28/2024

Young Professionals in Sustainability - Zhinan Chen, RMI (in Chinese) 04/07/2024

Corporate climate disclosure in China - with Erica Downs, Ned Downie, and Yushan Lou 02/14/2024

Micromobility and sustainability: A day in the life of a bike-sharing scholar - with Wen Yi [in Chinese] 01/22/2024

Emergency Podcast! Sunnylands Declaration and COP28 - with Li Shuo 11/16/2023

Young Professionals in Sustainability - with Qiwen Cui of Dialogue Earth [in Chinese] 11/15/2023

Young Professionals in Sustainability - with Qiwen Cui of Dialogue Earth [in Chinese] In the latest episode of Environment China’s Young Professionals in Sustainability Series, we talk with Qiwen Cui, the China editor at China Dialogue, which in 2024 will launch its new flagship website called Dialogue Earth. Qiwen has worked in various media outlets covering climate action, technology, and entrepreneurship. Her focuses at Dialogue Earth are biodiversity, food systems, energy and climate change. Before moving to London, Qiwen worked at Shanghai-based sustainable social enterprise BottleDream and Curiosity Daily, among others. In the podcast, we will discuss Qiwen’s early academic and work background, career planning path, a day at Dialogue Earth’s London office, and sustainable societies and events in London. This episode is in Chinese and is produced by our Executive Producer Xiaodan Yuan Please consider supporting us on Patreon! 我们一生中有将近三分之一的时间都在工作中度过，所以我们要的不仅仅只是一份工作，而是一个与我们的目标、优势和价值观相一致的职业。2022年我们发起了“可持续宝藏青年都在做什么”圆桌并邀请了来自环境、能源和可持续发展领域的小伙伴们分享他们的工作机构和内容、职业发展规划及在工作上遇到的挑战。在经历了2022年每月一期的活动后，我们觉得还是非常有必要把这些宝贵的经验以文字或者播客的形式记录下来，所以环境能源可持续圈打工人系列播客诞生了！在环境中国最新一期的播客中，我们邀请到了Dialogue Earth的中文编辑崔绮雯——绮雯在伦敦以写作为生，主要关注生物多样性，食物系统，能源和气候变化等议题。搬来伦敦前，绮雯在上海的可持续社会企业 BottleDream 和好奇心日报等机构任职。我们在播客中将探讨绮雯早期的学业和工作背景、职业规划路线、在 Dialogue Earth 伦敦办公室的一天，和伦敦的可持续社团和活动等。您可以在各大播客平台、小宇宙上、和北京能源网络公众号收听环境中国播客。本集播客制作人：Xiaodan Yuan /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/28652823

Coal is back – with Sam Clissold of Carbon Tracker 10/30/2023

Coal is back – with Sam Clissold of Carbon Tracker Coal in China is seeing a multi-year resurgence after years in which the government seemed ready to dial back and ultimately halt coal power construction. Indeed, just months after the 2020 announcement by Xi Jinping on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, in early 2021 a Central Environmental Inspection Team report criticized the National Energy Administration for approving too much coal and ignoring environmental policy goals (albeit on air quality, not carbon). The report stated that NEA had ‘built what shouldn’t be built (coal, coal power lines), and not built what should be built.’ China also committed internationally to ‘strictly control’ new coal capacity through 2025, after which coal power should decline. Ironically, that CEIT report was just months before a major new coal boom in China began, which kicked off even before power shortages in late 2021 that were caused by high coal prices and then further power cuts in 2022 caused by hydro shortfalls in some regions. Our guest for this episode is Sam Clissold, analyst with Carbon Tracker. Sam has deep expertise and experience looking at the pipeline of coal power projects in China and analyzing the potential economic risks of stranded assets they pose. Topics we discuss: China's coal plant pipeline and what's driving the increase. What happened to the plan to 'strictly control' new capacity? The geography of new coal - where is new coal being built? What are the economics of making coal more flexible to balance renewables, and does this cost potentially lead to asset stranding? Why is coal booming in Guangdong? To replace gas? Plans to introduce a capacity payment scheme to subsidize coal power. The overall scale of the coal power stranded asset risk and its size relative to China's economy. For further reading: Sam Clissold, ‘Balancing Act: Stranded Assets and Flexibility in China’s Power Sector,’ Carbon Tracker, 30 March 2023, at . Episode producers: Joyce Yuan (production) and Anders Hove (host) Join us on Patreon! /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/28461503

"Greener than Ever"? The BRI turns 10! - with Christoph Nedopil-Wang 10/15/2023

"Greener than Ever"? The BRI turns 10! - with Christoph Nedopil-Wang The Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI) has reached the ripe old age of 10 this month. Those 10 years have seen a lot of change, including on topics like the relative focus on clean energy versus fossil fuels and the interest in and incentives for applying ESG criteria to BRI investments. Today we are joined by frequent guest and longtime friend of the pod, Professor Christoph Nedopil-Wang. This year he became the Director Griffith Asia Institute and is also Professor at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. Previously, he was Associate Professor and Director of the Green Finance & Development Center, Fudan University. He previous worked in Beijing at the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF), as well as at GIZ. Cheat sheet: Q: Was the 1H 2023 really the greenest ever, as Reuters summarized? (A: Reuters focused on energy sector, where change most evident, though oil & gas investments are big and lumpy, so can't just look at 1H. "Small and beautiful" green investments becoming more common.) Q: Is energy becoming greener just because fossils falling, but renewables not picking up as much? (A: Both declining coal share and growing renewables, but renewables need much stronger growth.) Q: Why is state-owned sector declining and private sector going up? Is that due to SOEs focusing on domestic investment to respond to downturn? (A: Perhaps, but also because private firms now much stronger, and battery-related giants investing in big projects.) Q: What about mining for battery materials, is there more investment in value-creating parts of that supply chain in Africa, or is it all being processed elsewhere? (A: Yes, but need to be cautious on environmental impact of local processing and whether local firms or communities actually capture value.) Q: What is the situation with Chinese basic ESG principles (disclosure, community involvement) being applied on the BRI, as opposed to just meeting minimum local standards? (A: Not so good, for the power sector case studies they looked at.) For further reading: Christoph Nedopil Wang, ‘China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2023 H1,’ Green Finance & Development Center, Fudan University, 1 August 2023, at Cecilia Springer et al., ‘Elevating ESG: Empirical lessons on environmental and social governance implementation of Chinese projects in Africa,’ Boston University, 30 August 2023, at Andrew Hayley, 'China's Belt and Road energy projects set for "greenest" year, research shows,' Reuters, 2 August 2023, at /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/28318073

Marine plastics with Liu Xiao (Women in Sustainability) [Chinese] 09/20/2023

Marine plastics with Liu Xiao (Women in Sustainability) [Chinese] In this episode of our Women in Sustainability series, we are speaking again with Dr Liu Xiao about marine waste and the broader topic of waste and recycling in general. We talk with Dr Liu about a typical day at work on her projects at GIZ. Dr Liu is Project Manager at GIZ of the Rethinking Plastic-Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter (China), Integrated Waste Management NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) Project, and Textile Compass Project. She is also a member of Recycling and Waste Minimisation Committee of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). She has more than 15 years’ experience on municipal solid waste (MSW) management and sustainable development especially on policy research and technology consulting. Her research is mainly about integrated waste management and low carbon transition, plastic waste management and pollution control, with a special focus on sustainable business model establishment in the waste sector. 我们一生中有将近三分之一的时间都在工作中度过，所以我们要的不仅仅只是一份工作，而是一个与我们的目标、优势和价值观相一致的职业。2022年我们发起了“可持续宝藏青年都在做什么”圆桌并邀请了来自环境、能源和可持续发展领域的小伙伴们分享他们的工作机构和内容、职业发展规划及在工作上遇到的挑战。在经历了2022年每月一期的活动后，我们觉得还是非常有必要把这些宝贵的经验以文字或者播客的形式记录下来，所以“环境能源可持续圈打工人”系列播客诞生了！在环境中国最新一期的播客中，我们邀请到了刘晓博士——刘晓是德国国际合作机构（GIZ）的项目执行主任，她主要负责城市生活垃圾综合管理、循环经济与海洋垃圾、和纺织行业绿色转型这三个项目。她在城市生活垃圾管理领域有15年的政策及技术咨询经验，并关注废弃物管理及可持续商业模式的建立。我们在播客中将探讨刘晓早期的学业和工作背景、加入德国国际合作机构的契机、在德国国际合作机构工作的一天等。 Episode producer: Joyce Yuan Support us on Patreon! /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/28091369

The evolution of China’s climate diplomacy – with Taylah Bland 09/07/2023

Do China's EVs really reduce emissions and improve air quality? - with Zhang Shaojun 08/28/2023

Do China's EVs really reduce emissions and improve air quality? - with Zhang Shaojun Today's episode looks at the topic of electric vehicles and their impact on both carbon emissions and urban air quality. China has the world’s largest market for electric vehicles, and it is the largest maker of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles manufactured worldwide. Hence, the environmental impact of EVs, even outside of China, often goes back upstream to China. Our guest is Zhang Shaojun, Associate Professor at the Tsinghua University School of the Environment. His research examines the environmental impacts of emissions from road transportation systems on air quality, climate and public health. Before joining Tsinghua University, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at University of Michigan and Atkinson Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Cornell University. Shaojun and his colleagues have published two important papers on these topics this year. The first, in the journal PNAS Nexus, looks at the upstream greenhouse gas emissions from battery manufacturing as well as a regional breakdown of power sector emissions from EV charging. The second paper, in Environmental Pollution, looks at the impact of EVs on air quality, employing Tsinghua's CMAQ model to look at how EVs affect ozone and PM2.5, in particular considering the seasonal effects on air chemistry, which relates to the formation of secondary pollution. (Primary emissions refer to pollutants directly emitted from vehicles or power plants, whereas secondary pollutants are formed in the atmosphere through mixing of chemical precursors.) For further reading: Fang Wang, Shaojun Zhang, Yinan Zhao, Yunxiao Ma, Yichen Zhang, Anders Hove, and Ye Wu, “Multisectoral drivers of decarbonizing battery electric vehicles in China,” PNAS Nexus, Volume 2, Issue 5, May 2023, . Yiliang Jiang, Xinyu Liang, Shaojun Zhang, Zechun Hu, Anders Hove, and Ye Wu, “The future air quality impact of electric vehicle promotion and coordinated charging in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region,” Environ Pollut., 1 September 2023, . Support us on Patreon! Episode Executive Producer: Anders Hove /episode/index/show/environmentchinapod/id/27869454

Sustainable forestry and the role of China – with Beibei Yin 08/21/2023

Breaking: Analysis of China's August Green Certificate Policy - with Anders Hove 08/14/2023

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