Showing posts with label sustainability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sustainability. Show all posts

Monday, April 20, 2020

Back to basics: Taoism - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia
COVID-19 or the Coronavirus has triggered off a lot of soul-searching in China, says social commentator Zhang Lijia in the South China Morning Post. "All these problems at home and abroad are proof that nature has been interfered with, as humans go against the natural order. This is a good time to revisit the philosophical aspects of Taoism, writes Zhang Lijia.

Zhang Lijia:

Scientists have established a link between the emergence of highly pathogenic bird flu viruses and the intensification of poultry production systems. In his 2016 book, Big Farms Make Big Flu, biologist Rob Wallace tracks the ways influenza and other pathogens emerge from an agriculture controlled by multinational corporations in developed countries.
Chicken and other poultry are packed into mega-barns, grown out in a few months, slaughtered, processed and shipped all over the world. If a virus emerges, it can race through a flock packed together without any resistance. If it then spills over into humans, the consequences are dire.
All these problems at home and abroad are proof that nature has been interfered with, as humans go against the natural order. This is a good time to revisit the philosophical aspects of Taoism.

The Tao-te Ching says: “Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its being what it is.” In the eyes of Taoists, mankind and nature are bound together in an organic chain, and therefore in a relationship of reciprocity. If nature is in agreement with mankind, the world is harmonious and prosperous. If nature is mistreated by mankind, it can retaliate by causing calamitous suffering.
So far, two million people around the world have been infected with Covid-19, and millions more have been affected by the pandemic and lockdowns. This is a shrill wake-up call. The world must respond to it.
After the Covid-19 outbreak began in China, the authorities issued a temporary ban on wildlife trade, shutting down nearly 20,000 farms raising peacocks, porcupines, ostriches and other animals. Then a permanent ban on wildlife trade and consumption was announced, but with exceptions for trade for fur, medicine or research.
Some conservationists fear that traffickers might exploit these potential loopholes to continue trading wildfire. Still, the ban is a big step forward in the right direction.
The West doesn’t give China enough credit for its green leadership.
For years, international conservation groups have criticised the way China regarded wild animals as commodities. Corruption has also made it that much harder to police the illegal trade of live wildlife. Biodiversity loss is severe in China, where 61 percent of wild animals face extinction.
The prevention of future global pandemics must be a collective effort by people from around the world, but what China chooses to do is crucial to this battle. We will have to address the roots of the problem – the destruction of our environment – and shift our development model away from an overemphasis on economic benefits towards an environmentally sustainable model.
China’s air and water quality significantly improved during coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Sustainable development is a relatively new idea. Interestingly, Taoism, in its creed and practice, is compatible with sustainable development: notably, it is deeply concerned about harmony with nature, and nature’s ability to provide for mankind’s present and future needs.
Naturally, no religion or philosophy alone can resolve an environmental crisis or a pandemic. But if we are able to hermeneutically reconstruct Taoist teachings and reintegrate them into our culture, we may benefit greatly from ancient wisdom.
Take, for example, the issue of vegetarianism. Although the two main schools of Taoism hold different views on this, the religion generally encourages devotees to avoid meat and minimise harm, because animals are sentient beings. Just imagine how much good it would do the environment if 1.4 billion people could cut their meat intake by half!
More in the South China Morning Post.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more experts on cultural change in China at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

Monday, October 21, 2019

Sustainability: a tough sell to China consumers - Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok
Sustainability might have been high on the agenda of major fashion brands, most consumers in China still not buy into the concept, says marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok at the Jing Daily. But there is hope for the future as brands focus on the young and future consumers.

Jing Daily:
Chinese consumers often face barriers when they attempt to purchase sustainable products. Consumer research from the Chinese fashion media Luxe.co found that 21 percent of shoppers don’t know where to find sustainable fashion, and another 19 percent “do not understand what sustainability means.” Founder of the research platform ChoZan.co, Ashley Galina Dudarenok, explains that “sustainable fashion faces a lot of problems in the Chinese market. It is simply not the first concern when consumers make a purchase.”... 
Swarovski’s Waterschool environmental stewardship initiative has reached over 100 schools and 350,000 students across China, smartly targeting the next generation of China’s young and sustainably-savvy consumer. And according to the experts, it is this generation of young advocates who will be demanding more from brands in the future while also expecting proof of ethical sourcing and manufacturing standards. Galina Dudarenok explains that these consumers will expect sustainability to be a standard feature of brands’ product offerings in the future, claiming that “sustainable luxury does have a future in the Chinese market, and it is with post-90s consumers.” Far from being a passing trend, smart brands ought to be preparing for the eventual emergence of China’s environmentally conscious consumers now rather than when it’s too late.
More at the Jing Daily.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more marketing experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Thursday, July 03, 2014

The folly of man-made cities – Sara Hsu

Sara Hsu
+Sara Hsu 
Officially sustainability is high on China´s political agenda. But mountain leveling and other unsustainable practices to facilitate building of new cities for the country´s new urbanites borders to craziness, writes urbanization expert Sara Hsu in the Diplomat.

Sara Hsu:
China’s ambitious urbanization plan can be positive for the nation’s economic development, but the planning process must consider environmental compatibility. To date, evidence has shown that this is a difficult task for China. To think that, even when attempting to be eco-friendly, with the construction of cities just for that purpose, local governments have ended up destroying protected places, makes one wary of just how well future endeavors will be carried out, especially when they are done rapidly... 
First, the eyebrow raiser: mountain leveling in Lanzhou. China is right now leveling 700 mountains in Lanzhou to expand cities, and digging out artificial lakes to make the area more attractive to new residents. Mountain leveling and landscape changing has also occurred in Chongqing, Shiyan, Yichang and Yan’an. New land is created to bring in additional revenues to the local government. However, this process has a huge impact on the environment, and has led to dust storms, air and water pollution, erosion, and landslides. In Shiyan, for example, flattening mountains has led to landslides and flooding, and water diversion from rivers into canals has resulted in significant soil erosion. Environmental assessments for these projects have not been carried out, and the construction of these new living areas has already resulted in extensive air pollution due to increased air particulates, especially since local governments have not followed environmental regulations while building up these localities. 
Second, the eco cities, an idea that was born in 2007. China has planned to build 200 eco-cities, with many already in the process of being constructed. Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, one hour outside of Tianjin, was opened in 2012 and is expected to be completed by 2020. Hebei’s Caofeidian was started but construction ceased, as investment flagged due to the city’s poor location and unclear development strategy.
More in the Diplomat.

Sara Hsu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´ request form.

Sara Hsu is an expert on both China´s finance and urbanization. For an overview of her latest articles, check our list here.