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The report identifies China as the world's largest methane emitter and explores how sustainable finance can bridge the investment gap for abatement. It highlights the 2025 NDC update as a critical window for action and recommends the integration of quantitative methane targets, expanded green taxonomies, and the inclusion of methane in the national emissions trading system to mobilise the estimated USD 7.7 billion in annual investment needed.

China is transitioning from a focus on adding renewable capacity to building a "new electricity system" that integrates high levels of variable energy. In 2024, China invested $625 billion USD in clean energy, significantly outpacing other major regions. This shift, combined with expanding electrification in industry, transport, and buildings, is contributing to a structural decline in fossil fuel generation. By the first half of 2025, combined wind and solar generation surpassed the combined output of hydro, nuclear, and bioenergy, and total installed capacity for these sources exceeded that of coal for the first time.

China is experiencing a significant increase in coal power capacity, with 37 GW starting construction and 52 GW permitted in the first half of 2023. The report argues that most of these projects violate central government policies intended to limit coal to a supporting role for renewables, instead serving as bulk power generation. This trend, driven by energy security concerns and a desire to maximize carbon-intensive capacity before the 2030 peaking deadline, risks creating massive overcapacity and undermining China's carbon neutrality goals.

The document argues that as China tightened regulations on domestic heavy rare earth mining, production shifted to Myanmar, specifically Kachin Special Region 1. This illicit industry is controlled by armed militias and Chinese interests, leading to severe environmental degradation, human rights abuses, and labor violations. Because China controls the vast majority of global processing, these minerals enter the supply chains of major international companies producing electric vehicles and wind turbines. The report recommends that companies and governments implement strict due diligence and import restrictions to prevent the green transition from fueling harms in Myanmar.

In 2021, China's coal-fired power construction reached its highest level since 2016, with 33 GW of new capacity starting construction. Despite carbon neutrality targets, investment in long-process steel remains high, with China accounting for 85% of global new long-process capacity. The report warns that these investments lock in coal dependency and risk creating stranded assets valued at hundreds of billions of dollars. While there is growth in electric arc furnace (EAF) steel and renewable energy targets, the scale of new fossil-fuel infrastructure continues to outpace the transition needed to meet Paris Agreement goals.

The document details ten significant court cases across ten different countries—China, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Belgium, Finland, Australia, Tanzania, the Philippines, and India—where legal action successfully protected habitats or species. These cases highlight the application of the precautionary principle, the recognition of the 'rights of nature', and the use of public interest litigation to challenge government inaction or illegal industrial activities. Key outcomes include the halting of a hydroelectric dam in China, the liability of landowners for illegal deforestation in Brazil, and the reintroduction of Asiatic lions in India.

The report examines China's transition from a flat residential electricity pricing system to a tiered electricity pricing (TEP) system. It analyzes the reform's design, the role of provincial governments in setting price ladders, and the resulting impacts on different income groups. The document highlights the challenges of balancing operational feasibility with accuracy, the need for transparency in cost structures, and the use of compensation measures for the poorest households.

Between 2012 and 2013, 367 new species were discovered in the Greater Mekong region, including 290 plants, 24 fish, 21 amphibians, 28 reptiles, 1 bird, and 3 mammals. The report details specific discoveries such as the Cambodian Tailorbird, the Laotian giant flying squirrel, and the eyeless huntsman spider. It argues that the region is one of the five most threatened biodiversity hotspots globally, facing pressures from unsustainable infrastructure, extractive activities, agricultural expansion, and an illicit wildlife trade valued at at least 16 billion US dollars annually. Between 1973 and 2009, the region lost 42.4 million hectares of forest, or 30 per cent of its cover. WWF advocates for a transition to a green economy and regional collaboration, such as the Core Environment Program-Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative (CEP-BCI), to safeguard natural capital and ensure the well-being of over 70 million people.

China has become a global leader in renewable energy investment and wind capacity, though it remains heavily dependent on coal for electricity and heat. While the 12th Five Year Plan sets targets for increasing non-fossil fuel use and reducing carbon emissions intensity, the country faces challenges such as grid connectivity for wind power and water shortages in arid provinces due to coal base construction. The government is also piloting emissions trading schemes in several cities and provinces as a precursor to a national system by 2015.

The document examines China's energy landscape as of 2012, highlighting its position as a global leader in renewable energy investment and wind capacity despite a heavy reliance on coal for electricity. It details the growth of the solar and wind sectors, the environmental and water-related costs of coal combustion, and the climate goals established under the 12th Five Year Plan, including targets for non-fossil fuel use and the implementation of carbon pricing mechanisms.

The report examines the tension between trade growth and environmental sustainability in the Greater Mekong Subregion, highlighting how trade liberalization and infrastructure development contribute to environmental degradation. It identifies a lack of legally binding environmental commitments and weak enforcement capacities as primary obstacles. The document proposes specific measures to combat illegal wildlife and timber trade and suggests mainstreaming climate change into the ASEAN Institutional Framework for Economic Cooperation.

The document examines the tension between rapid economic transition and environmental degradation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). It highlights how trade liberalization and infrastructure development, such as economic corridors and hydropower projects, have contributed to soil erosion and illegal wildlife and timber trade. While regional frameworks like the ASEAN Regional Action Plan on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora and the Singapore Declaration on Climate Change exist, the report argues they are often non-binding 'soft law' and lack enforcement capacity. It specifically notes that climate change is expected to increase basin-wide temperatures by 0.79C and flooding by 2030. The author recommends that GMS countries coordinate conservation laws, establish a unified greenhouse gas inventory system, and subject trading mechanisms to formal climate risk assessments to move beyond 'token commitments'.

The report assesses the tension between economic growth through trade facilitation and the preservation of biodiversity in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). It argues that while measures to ease the movement of goods and people—such as those proposed by the WTO, ASEAN, and the GMS Cross Border Transport Agreement—can stimulate economic development, they also risk exacerbating the illegal trade in wildlife and timber by providing easier transit routes for smugglers. The author highlights that current conservation efforts are often fragmented by national borders, whereas the ecoregions they protect are transboundary. The report recommends that GMS states rationalize conservation measures, strengthen penal laws, and coordinate customs intelligence to mitigate the risks posed by trade facilitation.

The report assesses how the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) has influenced trade flows and environmental quality in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). Using a trade-environment matrix, the authors find that while two-thirds of trade is in low-pollution sectors, a third is in highly polluting sectors, with China as the primary producer of these goods. In Cambodia, the agreement has increased imports of polluting goods from China, which the authors describe as an environmental 'gain' for Cambodia at the expense of China's environment. However, the report highlights severe risks of natural resource depletion in Cambodia, specifically deforestation driven by wood and rubber exports, and overfishing. The authors conclude that the ACFTA lacks environmental provisions, which is a significant shortcoming in regional economic policy.

The policy brief examines China's increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade in the Mekong region, driven by its domestic demand for natural resources. It highlights the role of Chinese state-owned enterprises and financial institutions in filling an investment vacuum left by international financial institutions. While noting the potential for economic growth, the document warns of environmental and social risks due to poor regulatory enforcement and the lack of adherence to international sustainability standards by Chinese firms.

China is rapidly increasing its foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Mekong region to secure natural resources for its industrial growth. Driven by the 'Going Out' strategy, Chinese state-owned enterprises are filling an investment vacuum left by International Financial Institutions in hydropower, mining, and agribusiness. While this provides capital and infrastructure, it poses environmental and social risks due to a lack of compliance with international sustainability standards and poor local regulatory enforcement in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

The document is a collection of academic contributions from the 2001 NACS conference. It explores the complexities of China's transition to a market economy, focusing on the adaptability of the Communist Party, the challenges of urban neighbourhood governance in Shanghai, the dilemmas of bilingual education in Tibetan areas, and the development of indigenous social sciences. It also examines specific cases such as microcredit for poverty alleviation and the failure of a Sino-Norwegian environmental technology project in Yantai.

The report details how lead pollution causes irreversible health damage, particularly in children, and links these outcomes to violations of international human rights treaties. It highlights specific crises in Nigeria, Kazakhstan, and China, while noting that lead battery manufacturing and recycling are primary global exposure sources.

This policy brief examines China's expanding economic role in the Mekong region, specifically its investments in natural resources, energy, and infrastructure in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. It highlights China's strategic shift toward securing foreign resources to fuel its domestic industrial growth and the resulting environmental and social challenges in host countries.

The document examines how local cadres in Diqing prefecture used three distinct 'genres' of truth—scientific, literary, and visionary—to justify renaming Zhongdian county to Shangrila. While official state applications relied on scientific and literary evidence to locate the fictional paradise of James Hilton's novel in the material world, local legitimacy was sought by associating the name with the spiritual realm of Shambhala. The author argues that these multiple truths coexist by operating in different ontological realities: the 'actual' material world and the 'virtual' spiritual world.