Never Too Young to Learn

By Yuan Yuan

Wu Changhua， the China/Asia Director of the Office of Jeremy Rifkin and a dedicated advisor to governments and corporations on sustainability strategy and innovation， has most recently been working with Rifkin on his latest book The Age of Resilience. The book will hit the shelves in November， with its Chinese version slated for publication soon after.

This new work by Rifkin， an American scholar and bestselling author of more than 20 books， brings up some inspirational ideas on how to educate people on environmental protection， Wu said. “Education is the key to awakening people’s awareness of climate change，” Wu told Beijing Review. “Among all the issues concerning education， what to teach is a very important one.”

Though the COVID-19 pandemic barred many from going to work or school， this did come with a silver lining： People started paying more attention to nature. “This is very important， especially for young children who finally got to observe the fauna， flora and phenomena that surround us. This is a much more active and engaging approach than just sitting in a classroom and telling them how important it is to protect nature.”

As an environmentalist who’s been raising awareness of the negative effects of climate change on nature and humans alike for more than 20 years， Wu said the world’s climate today is much worse than she’d expected it to be two decades ago.

“We’re already experiencing more extreme weather events，” Wu said. “People everywhere can feel it. I’d dare say the planet is on fire.”

She recalled how at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen（COP15）， then President of the Republic of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed told her how he and his ministers had held the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting in a symbolic cry for help over rising sea levels that threaten the tropical archipelago’s existence. Their climate SOS made headlines around the globe.

“If you look at small island countries， often lowlying coastal regions [which are high-risk areas vulnerable to sea-level rise]， in many parts of the world， people are losing their homes，” Wu said.

The international community has witnessed developed countries and developing countries pointing fingers over the years， accusing the other group of not fulfilling due responsibilities in managing carbon emission reduction and global warming.

The COP15 in Copenhagen eventually saw developed nations commit to the goal of channeling $100 billion a year to less wealthy nations by 2020， to help them adapt to climate change and mitigate further temperature rises.

They reiterated their commitment at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. The Paris Agreement reached during that meeting extended the deadline for the original pledge to 2025.

But a 2019 United Nations report concluded that“the only realistic scenarios” showed the $100-billion target was out of reach. “We are not there yet，” UN Secretary General António Guterres conceded at the time.

“China， though， has played a positive role in recent years by setting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals [before 2030 and 2060， respectively] and created national strategies targeting climate change，” Wu said.“China has been a major champion in this regard.”

In early June， China released the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2035， following the first such strategy released in 2013.

“I’m delighted to see the Chinese Government released China’s first national climate change adaptation strategy a couple of weeks ago，” Wu said. “That is a fascinating document for me to read as it highlights the country’s level of awareness， i.e.， how big and pressing this crisis actually is.”

Earlier this year， Wu was invited to come on board as a senior advisor for the Global Young Leaders Dialogue （GYLD）， a program facilitating exchanges between Chinese and foreign youth launched by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies affiliated to China International Communications Group in collaboration with the Center for China and Globalization， to review proposals on mitigating climate change and promoting green development sent in by candidates from all over the world. She found some of the proposals from the younger generations to be “absolutely inspiring.”

Kseniya Otmakhova， a 30-year-old from the Netherlands， has been living in China for four years. With a master’s degree in urban planning and design， she came to China in 2018 as a student through a Schwarzman scholarship， a one-year graduate program at Tsinghua University in Beijing. After graduation， she started working at the Beijing office of Ballistic Architecture Machine （BAM）， an international multidisciplinary design studio.

BAM’s proposal submitted to the GYLD program is about building wasteto-energy （WTE） plants in the urban core rather than on the far outskirts of cities.“Since the 1960s， the landfill has been the most widely used waste management option，” the proposal read.“Landfills are essentially underutilized and underextracted resources.” To this extent， the demand for a sustainable alternative to landfills is growing rapidly.

The WTE Power Plants provide a solution to extract more embedded energy from waste. Moving disposal infrastructure into the urban core is key to furthering the paradigm shift in overall waste management， Otmakhova explained. This can cut emissions from trucks hauling the waste to the cities’ far outskirts.

“It is common for people to have concerns over the construction of waste treatment facilities in their neighborhood，” Wu said. The concerns cover both health and aesthetical reasons given WTE plants are usually considered ugly and smelly pollution hazards.

“We bring in experts who advise on specific solutions that suit the urban core，” Otmakhova said， adding that the emissions either get captured of purified， depending on the project， to minimize pollution.

The BAM team uses a wide range of design solutions to help make the WTE technology look people-friendly. Their proposal is based on a Harvard University study on design， architecture and waste which demonstrates that architects can be crucial to integrating WTE plants within their context and reducing the negative public perception of such facilities.

And this is not just an idea. The BAM team was responsible for designing the Baoshan WTE project in Shanghai.

In Otmakhova’s opinion， technology， art and design play different roles in dealing with trash treatment and climate change. “Technology is about providing solutions. Art can drive the discussions necessary to generate change. Design， though often sided with art， is about the implementation of the new concepts we come up with， and it has a real and functional side to it，” she added. Summing up，“Scientists change your mind， artists change your heart and design integrates that change into our lives.”

Wu hailed the GYLD program as “a contributor to promoting education on climate change.”

“I hope the organizers in the future can do more on a larger scale to establish a huge talent pool for younger generations from different parts of the world，” Wu said. BR