By Wang Shutong

The latest green initiative for Beijing came on January 8; the first China Carbon Neutral Alliance, a non-profit NGO, was founded by the China Beijing Environment Exchange (CBEE), a franchised business entity. The alliance aims to help enterprises reduce their carbon footprints.

"We are an Alliance. We welcome every enterprise to join us, but we have strict standards," Mei Dewen, the general manager of CBEE told Lifestyle. "They should be the top ones, with fore-sight and a sense of responsibility."

Qualified enterprises involved are expected to strive to reduce their carbon footprints out of their own free will. "Enterprises in China are facing multiple pressures from mainly two aspects: abroad and home," Mei explained.

According to Mei, green awareness will lead to high-polluting, CO2-producing companies losing out in international markets. Enterprises seeking foreign investment and listed in overseas stock markets, will face questions about whether their profits come at an environmental cost, Mei explained.

China still developing

So far, China, despite regulations (including the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, the Law on Atmospheric Pollution Control and the Law on Radioactive Pollution Control) has no law for the reduction of carbon production. This is because, according to Mei, China is a developing country.

"What China is building now is a comprehensive system that includes green investment, green trade and green GDP (which excludes the cost of natural resources and environmental pollutants); these enterprises therefore are eager to transform their manufacturing methods to cater to future regulations," Mei explained. Dozens of enterprises have already joined, including State-owned, foreign-invested and private companies.

Footprint reduction

According to Qi Jiuhong, Research and Development Director at CBEE, many methods can be used to minimize or wipe out a company’s carbon footprint. "Enterprises can buy advanced technology from developed countries through the technology transfer platform we provide." This includes VER (Volunteer Emissions Reduction) in accordance with Panda standards – voluntary regulations for the domestic carbon market developed by CBEE, Bluenext, the largest European carbon exchange, the China Forestry Exchange (CFE) and Winrock International, an America-based NPO. Other approaches include "carbon sinks", forests and lakes that absorb carbon dioxide.

Corporations can buy VER through certain projects provided by CBEE, including hydropower projects in Hunan Province and methane digesters (where methane from animal excrement is turned into biogas) in Guizhou Province. Other projects will be launched periodically, such as reforestation offsets in Xinjiang. As for whether corporations will use offsets as an opportunity to pollute more, knowing they can buy the problem away, Qi said involved corporations have high social status and dare not suffer such damage to their reputation.

CFE offers planting trees to offset carbon produced by provinces that rely heavily on methane. As a result, such enterprises in less developed parts of China can receive funds to counteract environmental damage and make further developments for their own industries.

Obstacles

However, they face multiple challenges as to how they proceed. "It takes a while for Chinese enterprises to take to the concept of VER since currently, most care about surviving fierce market competition," Mei explained. "They should first acknowledge their social responsibility. To take the initiative and reduce their carbon production is an important step in establishing the upright imagine of an enterprise. The technology is hard to get from developed countries and also, the whole system of carbon service finance is still being refined. Investment is needed so we can get the ball rolling."

Mei pointed out that Beijing is an ideal location for the Alliance because all parties needed to make the project come to fruition are here, including the top enterprises, back-up departments and cooperating agencies.

Green shoots

As early as the Beijing Olympic Games, CBEE facilitated their first carbon deal with a Shanghai-based car insurance corporation. Tianping Corporation bought 8,025 tons of carbon to offset production from 2003 to 2008 via a project called Green Transportation, which launched during 2008 and advocated simple transportation methods like cycling, walking and taking public transportation.

"What we want to achieve is to cultivate the competitive strength of carbon resource management for enterprises. Our members are the motivational force of a VER revolution for all China. And we also want to make carbon reduction marketable, like the way foreign countries are doing now, and change people’s living habits and consumption concepts," Mei said. "We have the confidence."