‘China has got the message and that should help environmental businesses become the hot stocks of the future’
Chinese pollution is far more damaging to Chinese people than anyone else. So it is unsurprising that pollution concerns are the most discussed topic in social media. The critical Chinese pollution documentary was viewed 200 million times in seven days. Pulmonary ailments caused by small particle (PM2.5) exposure causes 1.2 million premature deaths every year. Even in 2009 when I studied in Beijing, the easiest Chinese phrase to parrot was not “The weather is hot” but “ ” (it’s very polluted) . No longer does China feel that pollution is not its responsibility – merely because it is merely Western pollution, transposed. Nevertheless, 30 years of the most populous nation on earth dissing the environment in a blind rush for development means that China is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. East Capital, the emerging markets asset manager, calculates that “airpocalypse episodes”, where the air quality index is worse than inside an airport smoking room, affects 25 per cent of the population. The Beijing air quality index was above 100 (unhealthy) for 193 days of 2015. The annual economic cost of air pollution for the main conurbations is estimated to be US$1 billion. Even a climate change denier must recognise that breathing industrial dust concentrates is a bad thing. But it is not just the air. Thirty per cent of water resources in China are undrinkable and 12.5 per cent of farmland is polluted by heavy metals. Milk has been contaminated by accident – and on purpose. Cleaning up is eyewateringly expensive although that provides investment opportunities for the 350 listed Chinese green companies. Francois Perrin, East Capital’s clean investment guru, says: “By the end of the 13th five-year plan in 2020, the annual cost of the war against pollution will be 2.7 per cent of China’s gross domestic product.” That is a massive 2.5 trillion yuan (US$367.9 billion) , more than the size of the Hong Kong economy. This large investment implies strong government support for environmental protection and regulation. PM2.5 levels have already been slightly reduced since 2015 and the perception is that, just occasionally, there are a few more “blue sky days”. Water treatment will be the main beneficiary of this investment with 50 billion yuan planned for clean water and a further 47 billion yuan for sewage plants. The Soil Pollution Prevention Act is likely to add 5.7 trillion yuan and there is an additional budget to clean hazardous waste. Clean energy is the most dynamic sector as 10 per cent of China’s vehicles are slated to be fully electric by 2025. BYD already produces more electric vehicles than Tesla. Battery-only cars sold in the nation last year exceeded the rest of the world put together. Batteries are becoming cleaner and greener and more than 75 per cent of the world’s electric vehicle battery sets are used domestically. China’s clean technology industry has more than half of the world’s green investments. The nation boasts six of the top 10 solar panel manufacturers, making 75 per cent of solar panels globally. They generate a quarter of the planet’s solar power. Four of the top 10 makers of wind turbines make half of the world’s wind turbine generators. China alone outputs a third of the world’s wind power. China’s state-owned structure can turn today’s domestic champions into tomorrow’s global leaders. The first Chinese carbon market will be launched this year to allow industry to trade carbon credits. This puts a cost on emissions for polluters who hitherto have had a free ride. The leadership has pledged a 40 to 45 per cent reduction in carbon intensity by 2020 over 2005; and 60 to 65 per cent by 2030. Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord has raised concern in Washington that choosing pollution over the moral high ground will diminish US influence around the world. A bigger danger for the US is in missing an opportunity for environmental-sector business. Xi has just as much reason to keep his industrial base content as Trump, but he better understands that his power base comes from the people and the people breathe the air. Pollution pays a deadly dividend in health costs, climate change and the plight of ordinary people. A protected environment is cheaper in the long run as every consumer can afford a few pennies to live with blue skies and blue water. China has got the message and that should help environmental businesses become the hot stocks of the future.

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© Source: http://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2097365/theres-one-way-profit-discord-over-paris-agreement
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Court hears senior constable recall ‘too many thugs’ during unrest that erupted following a dispute over government regulation of hawkers
A Hong Kong policeman on Wednesday recalled fleeing for his life during violent last year when 50 “thugs” rushed towards his cornered team and hurled bricks that he could only shield with his bare hands. Detective senior constable Chow Wai-kit was testifying at a trial of nine men accused of rioting in the popular shopping district after a dispute on over government regulation of hawkers. News footage played in West Kowloon Court showed Chow and his colleagues vastly outnumbered by the advancing crowds as they retreated slowly along a closed jewellery shop at about 4am on February 9 last year. Soon the team of 10 was split up. Chow was left with a fellow plainclothes officer. The two lacked shields, helmets and weapons. “The situation at the time was very dangerous, ” he told District Court judge Kwok Wai-kin. “I felt my life was in danger.” Chow agreed with a defence suggestion that police had to “flee for their lives” as protesters grew increasingly violent. He testified that his right shoe had fallen off as he was struck by bricks and hit by protesters and that his colleague had been bashed with a folding chair and a five-foot long stick. He also recalled that a man they had struggled to arrest and handcuff slipped away during the unrest. “There were too many thugs, ” he continued. “We had to protect ourselves and we couldn’ t hold onto the man.” The attack abated when police reinforcements arrived, and after reporters behind them shouted: “Don’ t hit. People will die.” Meanwhile, constable Yip Kim-kwan recalled travelling along Nathan Road in a police car surrounded by protesters who hurled bricks and bamboo sticks “like javelin sticks” at the vehicle. Deputy director of public prosecutions David Leung Cheuk-yin SC said: “Soon the windows were broken.” “All shattered, ” Yip added. Still the assault continued with bricks thrown inside the car. Yip said he “could hear them banging”. Another passenger, police constable Chung Yue-chee, said he wore a helmet inside the car and leaned his body to one side as glass shards sprinkled over him. “I was very scared, very scared that I might get hit, ” he said. None of the four officers inside the car sustained injuries in the 10-minute incident. But the vehicle was damaged, its windshield broken and rear windows shattered and body panels dented. The damage totalled HK$26,352, and police ceased using it. Waiter Mo Jia-tao, 18, earlier pleaded not guilty to one count of criminal damage involving the car. He also denied three counts of rioting, but admitted to assaulting police constable Wong Wing-ho with a bottle-like object. Cleaner Chung Chi-wah, 30, actor Anthony Ho Kam-sum, 37, waiter Fok Ting-ho, 23, logistics worker Tang King-chung, 27, electrician Lam Wing-wong, 21, renovation worker Yep Chi-fung, 17, and Chan Wo-cheung, 70, and Li Cheuk-hin, 19, each pleaded not guilty to one count of rioting. Chan further denied assaulting police constable Pang Tak-ching. The trial continues.

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© Source: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2097341/hong-kong-policeman-testifies-he-felt-his-life-was-danger
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