2. Render that pavilion benign through the display of images of the Gulf of Mexico cartoons.

3. Attach solar panels to the State Grid Pavilion (actual connection to the grid is optional).

4. Produce inflatable mascots to no shorter than 1.7 meters, using no less than 36 oz PVC per unit of production.

5. Reduce the use of raw materials on unnecessary amenities, such as seating (foreground) and shading (background).

6. Reuse waste items whenever possible (for example: nighttime bicycle lights made extraneous by China’s glorious transition to a country of personal automobiles).

7. Recycle.

8. Achieve maximum beautification and environmental harmony through an appropriate ratio of greenery : concrete.

9. Prohibit the use of Chinese trees for production of all paper products.

10. Require that every country establish an emissions-free transportation option inside their pavilion.

11. Vigorously practice resource conservation.

12. Avow commitment to the circular economy through unwavering patriotism.

(Reduce the waste heat produced by Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan’s pavilions by reducing their size and placing them in the shadow of the Chinese pavilion).

Read more about the energy and the environment through Elizabeth’s blog.

Foggy or smoggy Shanghai? (Source: Google Images)

Shanghai, often recognized for its free-market tendencies and environmental leadership, is introducing China’s first municipal trading mechanism as a means to curb pollution.

Last Friday, in advance of a major carbon trade industry event taking place in Beijing this week, word began surfacing in the Chinese media that Shanghai plans to pilot an emissions trading scheme that will involve more than 300 companies’ trading “pollution discharge rights.”

The news comes nine months after the launch of China’s first energy and environment exchanges. That announcement – on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games – coincided with building efforts by leaders in China’s premier cities to promote, at least on a rhetoric level, municipal level policies aimed at reigning in growing energy demand.

Shanghai is doing more than just talking the talk, though.

Its recent shutdowns of 500 megawatts of coal-fired generators, plans to decommission still more inefficient plants and an ordinance against the construction of any new coal-fired power plants within the municipality have earned the city of 13.7 million a reputation for leadership on environmental initiatives.

In June 2008, Shanghai’s vice-mayor and former Baosteel subsidiary Chairman Ai Baojun pledged to step up efforts to reduce emissions through industry reform and raise energy efficiency. City officials said then that new developments which did not meet specific efficiency requirements could be denied land-use approval. Now, Shanghai is taking a big first step by introduce market mechanisms.

Efforts by officials like vice-Mayor Ai to alter the local energy landscape significantly are still constrained, however, by current energy regulation. Exclusive control over energy markets, including electricity prices, rests with China’s central government.

Shanghai’s Pollution Discharge Right Trade will require more than 300 companies, whose emissions comprise over 80% of the city’s total, to purchase a credit that allows them only a specific allowance of discharge. Those who exceed the allotted amount will have to purchase credits from other enterprises, to be traded on the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange. Sulphur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand, a measurement of water pollution, will be the first two pollutants traded once the scheme takes effect later this year.

According to a report from China’s state-run news agency, the Shanghai government will set the price for the credits, instead of letting the market determine their value; and the cap will follow existing environmental requirements. These details suggest that officials hope the exchange will bring compliance, rather than extensive revenue. Enforcement of environmental regulations currently poses a significant challenge in Shanghai, and throughout China.

However, the opportunity to profit from the scheme has not been overlooked. The SEEE plans to launch an international platform for the future trade of pollution rights which would eventually include CO2. When or if that will happen depends on the central government, which retains exclusive authorization power.

While Beijing officials have not offered any clue on whether they will concede trading rights to SEEE, concerns over a fully operating exchange have already arisen within financial circles. Analysts suggest that, like the Clean Development Mechanism, verification and monitoring issues are likely to crop up. Introducing an international trade exchange into a country with still immature financial markets likewise calls into question the capability of local regulators.

Nevertheless, the fact that countries like China and India generate the bulk of Certified Emissions Reductions credits but make a small percentage of what brokers make off the deals suggests that from an equity point of view, the news is a welcome change.

Some climate experts say the scheme would bring administrative benefits over the existing framework. “A local exchange will reduce the transaction cost and bring more transparency to CER pricing,” said Chen Dongmei, WWF China’s climate change and energy program director, referring to the fact that without a central database it is impossible to know the going price and trading volumes of credits.

More importantly, giving local players financial incentives to reduce emissions is essentially a carrot capable of inciting voluntary and accountable environmental action.

“In a market-based mechanism, an emissions trading scheme provides economic incentives for reducing pollution,” said Zhang Peijun, director of Shanghai’s main district Environmental Protection Bureau. “Companies unable to limit their emissions have to pay a much higher price for extra credits on the exchange.”

Yutian, Hebei province: Cyclists ride through a cloud of pollution produced by a nearby factory (Source: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images)

This post also found on Foreign Policy Blogs and SolveClimate.com.

For the fifth year running, Fortune China has published its “25 Most Influential Business Leaders in China 2008” list, the feature article in the April issue. As in the past, selection was based on “leading executives influential within their corporation and industry, and capable of changing things on a wide scale,” both in China and internationally, said the syndicate.

A sign of the times, the 2008 list pays notice to executives promoting an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) corporate culture in China more than in years past. Chief among the leaders in this category was publicly traded solar panel manufacturer Suntech’s SHI Zhengrong (pictured above) and rechargeable battery-cum-electric automaker BYD’s Chairman WANG Chuanfu.

BYD Chairman WANG Chuanfu

Several of the business leaders are also well known billionaires, according to their ranking in Forbes 2008 “China’s 400 Richest” and the Hurun report “2008 China Rich List.” Suntech’s Shi and BYD’s Wang, among China’s most well known billionaires, both fall into that category.

Other notable tycoons among Fortune’s top 25 include Chinese home appliance giant Suning’s Chairman ZHANG Jindong; online gaming mogul and Tencent Chairman MA Huateng; and HE Xiangjian, Chairman of Midea Home Appliance. The growing influence of China’s financial elite suggests that they have earned a place at the table – if not quite yet in Beijing, than certainly amongst investors looking to capitalize on the Chinese brands that will, in the years ahead, become global icons.

Tencent Chairman MA Huateng

Just as personal wealth is on the rise among China’s influential business people, the importance of state-owned companies appears to be waning. Compared with previous years, the 2008 list featured more private sector companies. Only seven of the executives hailed from state-owned enterprises, while eight of the list’s 18 private sector companies are publicly trade firms.

Despite the evolution of China’s business culture, age and gender remain more resistant to change. 52 is the average age of this year’s business leaders, and only one of the luminaries, home appliance retailer Gree’s general manager, DONG Mingzhu, is a woman.

Gree GM DONG Mingzhu

The full list can be seen here: