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RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGZ #0372/01 1670926
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160926Z JUN 09 ZDK
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0704
INFO RUEHGZ/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE 0188
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 0012
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC 0018
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC 0103
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC 0175
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC 0171
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000372 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EMB BEIJING FOR DOE 
USDOE FOR OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 
USDOE FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 
STATE FOR EAP/CM AND EB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG TRGY SENV ECON CH
SUBJECT: Climate Change: Xiamen in the Forefront of Mitigation and 
Adaptation Efforts in South China 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary and Comment: In the battle against climate change, 
Xiamen in Fujian province is increasingly a focal point for efforts 
by government, NGOs and businesses in south China.  The city 
government has created a new, unique institution to assess the 
impact of climate change; NGOs have found success at raising 
awareness and creating public-private partnerships; and businesses 
have identified Xiamen as a potential pilot city for 
energy-efficient building and construction and Clean Development 
Mechanism (CDM) projects.  Questions remain on how much effort 
should be focused on mitigation versus adaption and where financing 
will come from.  However, with significant political will and the 
support of a variety of local and international actors, Xiamen may 
achieve its goal of becoming an eco-city model in China.  It also 
presents a useful target for U.S. government and business engagement 
on climate change, alternative energies and energy efficiency.  End 
Summary and Comment. 
 
------------------------------------- 
City Government: Assessing the Impact 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Xiamen, a coastal city in Fujian, has become a leader among 
south China cities in addressing climate change issues across 
multiple sectors, including government agencies, NGOs, and private 
businesses.  On the government front, Xiamen established a new 
institute in 2008 dedicated to assessing the impact of climate 
change.  Named the Xiamen Climate Change Inspection and Assessment 
Center, it is China's only municipally funded climate assessment 
institute.  The Center is managed by the Xiamen Municipal 
Meteorological Bureau and reports to the municipal government on a 
quarterly basis about changing trends in the city's weather 
patterns.  Analysis from the Center will be integrated into local 
policies on real estate development, urban planning and 
construction, and the agricultural sector.  Su Mingfeng, Head 
Engineer at the Center, asserted that the municipal government has 
actively committed to shifting toward a low-carbon economy model. 
The local government's current objective for 2010 is to reduce the 
use of standard coal equivalent to 0.56 ton per RMB 10,000 GDP, down 
from 0.875 ton in 2007. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Xiamen is well positioned to assess the early impact of 
climate change due to its coastal location.  According to Chen 
Huang, Director General of the Xiamen Meteorological Bureau, there 
are already several signs of climate change affecting Xiamen: severe 
weather, increased pollution, and rising sea-levels.  Typhoons have 
become more active in Xiamen and its surrounding areas.  For 
decades, typhoon season has generally occurred between June and 
September.  In more recent years, typhoons have begun showing up 
earlier (March and April) and lasting longer (through November and 
even December).  Other weather patterns, such as storms in the city, 
drought in the rural areas and changes in temperature, are becoming 
more severe. In addition, the Center has recorded a significant 
number of "hazy days," suggesting that air pollution may have an 
increasingly harmful impact on the local environment.  Over the next 
fifty years, Xiamen can also expect to see rising sea-levels, said 
Chen.  Center officials pointed out that climate change is not only 
impacting the weather directly, but also public health and local GDP 
indirectly. 
 
--------------------------- 
NGOs: Creating Partnerships 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Meanwhile, Environmental NGOs in Xiamen have had notable 
success in both raising awareness and in forming public-private 
partnerships to combat climate change.  Xiamen-based environmental 
NGO Green Cross has held two forums this year promoting low-carbon 
economies, energy efficiency in building and urban planning, and 
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects.  Co-sponsored by the 
Xiamen Science and Technology Association, the US-based 
Environmental Defense Fund, and the China Civil Climate Action 
Network (an organization funded by the Berlin-based Heinrich Boll 
Foundation and consisting of 21 domestic and international NGOs), 
the first forum of the year, the "Climate Change and Low-Carbon 
Economy Forum," was held in April as a kick-off event for a series 
of low carbon-focused meetings that Xiamen plans to host in 2009. 
The meetings aim to provide a platform for local government, 
enterprises, and the public to engage on policy issues, technology 
 
transfer and potential collaboration.  During the second climate 
change and CDM seminar held this month as part of Xiamen's Energy 
Efficient Building Material Fair, an expert from one international 
NGO said Xiamen's potential success in combating climate change will 
be driven not by enterprise, but by NGOs who are focused on the 
issue of climate change itself, not on stakeholders or profits. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Climate Group, a UK-based NGO which also participates 
in Xiamen's climate change forums, said that it plans to develop 15 
to 20 low-carbon cities in China, providing opportunities to spread 
clean energy technology, increase "green" investment and "green" 
jobs, and reach national energy efficiency and emissions targets. 
According to Wang Chengbo, Director of City Leadership - Greater 
China at The Climate Group, the organization has already talked with 
government officials and enterprises in seven to eight cities to 
foster the concept, including Xiamen.  (Note: The Climate Group 
plans to launch energy-efficiency projects in cities throughout the 
Pearl River Delta, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, 
and Foshan.  End Note). 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
Business: Incubating New Projects 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) A coalition of actors that participated in Xiamen's climate 
change forums - including CHORA, a London-based urban planning and 
architectural firm; Casper Vandertak, a Beijing-based Clean 
Development Mechanism (CDM) consulting firm; and Xiamen University, 
- is promoting Xiamen as a climate change "incubator" in China. 
With local government support, the partners are supporting projects 
that would turn Xiamen into a pilot city for energy-efficient 
building and construction, including the promotion of solar 
photovoltaic usage, and to increase the number of local CDM 
projects, an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol that permits 
industrialized countries with greenhouse gas emission reduction 
commitments to implement emission reduction projects in developing 
countries.  Professor Raoul Bunschoten, co-founder of CHORA and a 
member of the German National Energy Commission, has been asked by 
Xiamen officials to develop the Xiamen City Energy Plan addressing 
urban planning and renewable energy usage; CHORA is working with 
local Xiamen University students to carry out this task. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Energy Savings: Adaptation vs. Mitigation 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Several experts at the June forum suggested that local 
officials pay more attention to adaptation to the effects of climate 
change rather than mitigation efforts.  They highlighted energy 
savings and increased building efficiency as measures that would 
help the city deal with the effects.  According to Lin Boqiang, 
Director of the Center for Energy Economic Research of China, Xiamen 
University, carbon dioxide emissions without a doubt will increase 
in the short and medium terms due to economic development and 
increasing urban populations.  He suggested that local officials 
prioritize adapting local practices and behavior to reduce 
vulnerability and to adjust to future climate change costs.  Lin, an 
economist who has been tasked by the National Development and Reform 
Commission (NDRC) to work on China's energy strategy for the 12th 
Five-year Plan, pointed out that China was still in its urbanization 
and industrialization phase, which will lead to a steady increase in 
the nation's energy demand.  Lin said that he was not optimistic 
about China's ability to reduce its CO2 emissions; China instead 
should focus on increasing energy efficiency as a more viable 
short-term solution.  Through his work on the 12th Five-year Plan, 
he will recommend energy savings as the best route to increasing 
energy security. 
 
---------------------------- 
Challenge: Project Financing 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Revamping Xiamen into an energy-efficient city cannot 
happen without financing, and in the current market funding has not 
been easy to come by.  According to The Climate Group 
representative, there are four practical routes to financing a "new 
carbon economy": an energy service companies (ESCO), which offer 
 
 
enterprises design, financing, and project management services for 
energy-saving projects that cut client costs; private equity (PE); 
carbon funds, which invest donor money into renewable or energy 
efficient projects and repay donors via carbon offsets; and the 
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).  Several speakers at this month's 
climate change and CDM seminar urged Xiamen to take greater 
advantage of CDM financing a sustainable source of funding by 
establishing more local projects. 
 
¶9. (U) While Xiamen is at the forefront of climate change awareness 
in south China, the city falls behind Pearl River Delta metropolises 
Guangzhou and Shenzhen in CDM implementation.  Currently, Xiamen has 
one registered CDM project: the Dongfu Landfill Gas-to-Energy 
Project.  This methane recovery and utilization project was approved 
in April, with an estimated 94,084 annual Certified Emission 
Reductions (CERs), which will be attributed to Japan. Fujian has a 
total of 19 CDM projects, and Guangdong has a total of 17. 
 
GOLDBERG